Saviour
by Tigoldbitties
Summary: AU. Sam and Beth have been through a terrible experience. How will Andy be there to help them? Bad summary. But, have a read if you want. :)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! This is the first story I've written. I don't know if it's good or anything, but I thought I'd give it a go anyway. :)  
P.S. The Learning Centre is made up. **

**Chapter 1**

****"I miss her, you know." Beth whispered, snuggling into her father's side and resting her head on his chest. The repetitive 'boom' of his heartbeat keeping the tears at bay. She closed her eyes and sighed. "I miss the way she loved us, and how she would always have that massive smile on her face."

"And how she would always come around with the wake up call every morning. With 'Faith' being blared through the speakers downstairs." Sam added, lightly brushing his daughters bangs out of her face and behind her ear.

"Yeah." She sniffed quietly, not wanting to her father to hear that she was crying. Sam held his daughter tighter to his chest, completely happy to sit in the position forever. "Did we do something wrong, daddy?" She asked as the tears finally made way down her red cheeks. Her little voice starting to betray her.

Sam never knew how to answer that question. It was a question that he'd ask himself every morning when he woke up to an empty bed, or when he came home to find his daughter alone in her room crying.

He asked himself when he was in the shower, or making dinner, or driving Beth to school, or out on patrol.

When he would eat, sleep…breathe.

It was a simple question to many, but they never got an answer. And they never would.

"No." He said, shaking his head slowly. "We didn't do anything, okay? Especially you. You didn't do anything for your mum to leave us."

Beth raised her head and looked into her father's eyes. "Did she hate us?" She whispered.

Sam's eyebrows basically ripped off his face at the question. They shot straight to the top of his head and his mouth hung open. "She didn't." He said, more forcefully than intended. "You know that, and I know that. She told us every, single, day, how much she loved us."

"Then why did she leave?" Beth said, her voice becoming louder. She abruptly jumped from her seat on the couch and onto her wobbly legs.

"She got murdered, Beth" He said calmly, not wanting to lose his temper at his daughter. "I don't know what we did to deserve your mum to be taken away from us, but she was."

Beth's face contorted in pain as she listened to her father. Her heart shattered every time her dad said those 3 words. She didn't want to believe it.

Sam knew it was hard for Beth to understand what happened to her mother. Sure, she was 9 years old, and the concept of your mother being murdered wasn't exactly easy to comprehend at that age.

"I just don't understand." She whimpered.

He didn't either. He really didn't understand how someone could take away an innocent person's life. He didn't understand it when he was out on patrol dealing with murders. And he definitely didn't understand it when Oliver came to his door to give news that no police officer ever wanted to give.

"It's been 6 months today, daddy." Beth said. "6 months. She's never coming home."

"I know Beth!" He almost yelled, but stopped for the sake of his daughter. He couldn't lose his temper and risk her being scared of him. He was the only one she'd ever talk normally around.

She was the only person who she trusted now.

"I know that your mum left 6 months ago. I know all this, alright? You don't need to remind me. Your mum was the most valuable thing in my life next to you. You don't think I know that she was taken away from us?" His voice started to crack at the end of his sentence, as it finished in a harsh whisper.

Beth nodded her head vigorously and started to hiccup, willing the sobs to stay inside her. She had done enough crying to last a lifetime.

Sam hated to see his daughter cry, but it was a reoccurring event. If she wasn't crying, she was moping, if she wasn't moping, she was sleeping.

And Sam didn't know what to do.

"Beth." Sam said calmly. "Beth. You know what happens when you cry and panic, okay? Just calm down."

He was a single, widowed father to a very demanding 9 year old girl, who had her mothers bright blue eyes and her light brown hair. If she had lighter skin and no dimples, she would basically be Renee.

She certainly acted like Renee.

She had started to become detached and anti-social, which immediately lead to depression. To be 9 and have depression was not healthy. Sam knew this, their doctor knew this, and Beth knew this.

The therapist and Beth's social worker had tried nearly everything. They had even nearly gone as far as going to a clinic to help her, but Sam wouldn't let his daughter be put there.

She just needed help from people that she knew, and that loved her.

But she never wanted help.

She acted like Renee in the topic of independence. To be independent you had to be alone. That was her motto.

Wrong.

She felt the need to be alone, all the time. She hated to be hugged. Quite frankly, tonight was about the second time she had hugged her father in 6 months.

He needed help and he knew it. It was a very tiring task to even get Beth to _consider _going to school, let alone actually attend. Not long after Renee, Beth lost all her friends. Almost every person in Beth's school had found out about Renee. Soon after, every one had stopped talking to her because they thought they might hit a nerve and make her cry.

But Beth still cried every day. She would cry because she lost her mother, her friends, and her privacy. Her whole life had been showcased to her school.

So...moving schools was Sam's next option. She needed to be educated. Sam wasn't going to let her stay home from school everyday, especially if the school she was meant to go to know everything about her mother.

Beth hated the idea right at the beginning. Saying that she would become anti-social. Too bad she was already there. It took some convincing, and a lot of donuts, but it worked.

He had finally decided to get a personal teacher, for students with depression. Which was also a big argument starter.

Sam knew that she would probably give her new teacher hell. But the teacher knew exactly what they were getting into…He thinks. He hasn't met the teacher or anything, but he knows that the social working agency had recommended the company. They had great reviews from parents and children as well. Sam didn't even know the name of the teacher before accepting.

He still didn't know till this day.

Sam looked into his daughter's eyes and sighed, angrily rubbing his hands over his face. When Sam stood, Beth immediately wrapped her arms around his waist and smothered her face in his stomach.

She was short for her age, just like Renee.

Sam grabbed her from under the arms and lifted her frail body into his big, protective arms and rubbed her back as she sobbed.

"I'm sorry." He whispered in her ear. He kissed it about a hundred times, before rubbing soothing circles on her back once again. She was young and needed the comfort. Sometimes he forgot just how innocent his daughter was.

The duo made their way upstairs and into Sam's room. The bed was messy, and his room had loose clothing hanging around, but he didn't care. He just needed his baby girl right now.

Sam laid her on the bed, before running into her room and getting her some pajamas, then walking into his bathroom to get into his.

When Sam walked out, she was curled up on her mother's side, waiting for her dad's arrival. He slipped in and turned in to face her.

He liked to look at her face, and look for anything he could to remind him of Renee. Mostly the eyes though, definitely the eyes. They were a strong and piercing pacific blue colour, with baby blue specks in them.

The most amazing set of eyes you could get, and he was more than happy that his daughter had them.

"You ready for tomorrow?" He whispered. She closed her eyes and cleared her throat.

"Yeah." She whispered back. "I hope the teacher's nice."

Sam chuckled a little, and kissed her forehead. "They'll deal with me if they're not."

Beth giggled a little bit, and then rested her head heavily on her father's outstretched arm. "I love you, daddy."

Sam's heart stopped for a second. She hadn't said she loved him in 6 months. Those three words making him happier than he had been in ages. "I love you too, Beth." He kissed her hair, then wrapped his other arm around her back and rubbed circles up and down. It used to relax her as a child, and he could tell she needed it now. "I love you, so much."

* * *

Sam woke up to a small warm body wrapped around his side. He turned his head to the left to see Beth clinging to Sam and her head smothered in his neck.

She was beautiful.

Checking the clock, he sighed when he saw they had to leave in an hour. Luckily, Beth only took at most half an hour to get ready every morning, unlike her mother who took almost 2 hours.

"Beth." He whispered, stroking her hair lovingly. He felt her twitch and mumble, before resuming her heavy breathing on Sam's neck. "Beth. Wake up. You have to get ready for school."

"No." She whispered back, turning away from Sam's body and curling into a ball. Sam sighs and rubs his face angrily with his hands.

"Please, Beth. School is a good thing. You'll be with other kids and you won't be stuck around the house doing nothing."

Beth huffs angrily and throws the blanket off her and sits up facing Sam. "Daddy. You put me in a school full of freaks." Again, talking in a hoarse, whispered tone.

Sam raised his eyebrows at his daughter's attitude, and too sat up to face Beth. "They aren't freaks Beth. We've been through this. You have complained about every school you've been too. I really think this one will help, and I'm being absolutely serious." Sam watched the expression on Beth's face change.

"I know what you've been through is something that no one should go through, let alone a 9 year-old girl. But if you go to these classes, you'll stop feeling like you do now. I promise you that."

Beth's eyes betray her and a lone tear escapes, and splatters onto her shirt. She nods quickly before jumping out of bed and power walking into her room.

Sam groans. Beth is going to be pissed with him all day. He can already tell. She's 4 years away from her teenage years and she already has the attitude of one.

But he can't blame her. She saw something no one should have to. He seriously thought that she might come out like a serial killer or something. But she kept herself together in a different way.

But she never did anything wrong. She'd never break the law, or be disrespectful to her elders. She was just anti-social and depressed.

And again, he can't blame her.

20 minutes later the two were dressed and showered, and downstairs eating breakfast. Seeing Beth eat was a good thing.

Normally in the morning she'd hardly eat. At lunch she'd eat half a sandwich, then at dinner she'd eat half.

But she still got food, and at her last doctors appointment she was healthy, so what could he do?

Beth was dressed in her usual attire. Skinny jeans, converses and a long sleeved top. She would also wear a coat and scarf once she got outside. The chilly Toronto air didn't do much good to her.

At 8:00am they were in Sam's truck and on the road to Toronto A&D Learning Centre. The words depression and anxiety weren't used in the schools name. Which made sense to Sam.

When the two jumped out of the truck, Beth grabbed his hand in a death grip, not even thinking of letting go. Sam gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and he swung the door open, letting her walk in in front of him.

The foyer had white tiles and walls. A few pot plants were placed in corners. A small couch and rug were placed in a corner like a waiting area, with magazines and papers filling the coffee table.

They walked toward an older lady with greying hair and glasses sitting behind reception. She had bright pink lipstick on, and she was typing slowly on a computer. Sam cleared his throat and grinned when her eyes met Sam's.

"Oh. You must be Mr. Swarek." She said instantly. Sam's eyebrows raised and he looked down at Beth. "My Manager told me a new person was coming today, and you were the only person on our list."

Sam nodded once. "Yeah. Uh." He chuckled. "I don't know what I'm doing, so..." He shrugged.

"Hi." Came a cheery voice from behind them. Sam and Beth snapped their heads behind them and saw a young lady. 30 years old at most. She had long dark, wavy hair and tanned skin.

Her eyes were a piercing shade of brown and her smile was radiating.

"You must be the Swarek's. I'm Andrea, I'm Beth's teacher." She took a few slow steps toward the two, the sound of her ballet flats echoing throughout the foyer.

She was in light blue skinny jeans and a dark blue sweater. Half of her hair was done up in a clip, and she had little to no make up on.

She was also beautiful. Sam gave her a small smile, before turning his head back to Beth.

"I'm Sam and this is Bethany." He gave her hand a little jiggle to get her attention.

"Hi." She said, high pitched and abrupt.

Andy smiled at the two of them before stepping closer. She put a comforting hand on Beth's shoulder and bent down to her height.

"I'm just gonna talk to your dad for a few minutes. If you go straight through that door," She pointed toward automatic double doors. "There'll be about 10 other kids and a playground. Hang out there until I come and get you, okay?"

Beth gave a small nod before looking up at her father. He got the message, bent down and wrapped his arms around Beth's small body. Beth wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed.

"I'll see you later, daddy?" She asked in a hushed whisper. Her voice was starting to get high pitched. He knew she was trying not to cry.

"You will. I promise. I'll be back at 3:00pm to come and get you. If it's not me, it'll be uncle Oli, but I will do everything I can to make sure that I'm here to pick you up, okay?" He whispered in her ear. She nodded.

He pulled back a little and pecked her nose, then her forehead. Beth gave his cheek a quick kiss. She unwrapped her arms and walked to the doors.

Sam only took his eyes off her when she wasn't visible anymore.

"She's beautiful." Andy complimented with a small smile. Sam nodded in agreement, and then followed Andy. They weaved their way down the hallway, going through a series of doors. The carpet in the building was a light brown and the walls were a cream colour. There were pictures of flowers, and children on all walls.

There were doors on every wall with a different name on them. They climbed up a flight of stairs before coming to a room. The door had Andrea McNally printed on the front.

Once they were both seated, Andy cleared her throat.

"If Beth's social worker didn't tell you, I asked to teach her." Sam raised his eyebrows questionably. "I found her interesting and a little like myself, and I really think I'd be able to help her and give you some positive results."

"I hope you can. She needs it. She needs her life back. We both do." He rambled, groaning loudly and rubbing his face.

"I know it's frustrating." She started. "But I know a good parent when I see one, and I know that from her profile that you have done nearly everything you can to help her. And that you are hoping with everything you have that this will help her."

Sam nodded in agreement. She hit the nail on the head. "And I know it's not going to be easy." She continued. "But I'm going to try my hardest, just like I have with every other child I've worked with."

"What if it doesn't work though?" Sam asked. That was his biggest worry. After this, he just really didn't know what to do.

"Then I'll keep trying." She said.

Sam raised his eyebrows. Andrea McNally. She seemed...different than all the other people that he'd asked to help.

She was younger, but she looked passionate. She looked like she really cared about her job and about kids who need help. He really hoped this worked.

"I read the profile her social worker and therapists put together for me." She said. "A young girl shouldn't have to go through what she did, and I'm surprised at how well you have done with her. You shouldn't have had to go through it either."

"No one should have had to go through what we did. It was terrifying and left us with nightmares for months. But I wasn't going to sit back and let my daughter's life, and mine, waste away. I still have her to live for, even if Renee isn't here anymore."

Andy gave Sam a small grin. "Okay." She sighed. "Well. I know she's nervous, and I can tell you are too." Sam chuckled a little, and grinned back. "But she'll be fine. Her class starts in about 5 minutes. We just do normal stuff like at school. We do English, Math, History, Science, basic stuff of course because she's young."

Sam nodded.

"Then there will be the therapy side of things."

Again, Sam nodded.

"She'll be fine, Mr. Swarek. If anything happens I'll make sure I give you a call." Sam nodded. He rose to his feet and Andy did the same.

He held out his hand. Andy smiled and grabbed his hand sternly and gave a little shake.

"Have a good day, Mr. Swarek."

"Call me Sam."

"Have a good day, Sam."

**Let me know if I should keep going. :)**


	2. Chapter 2 - Panic

**Hey again. Thanks heaps for the positive reviews! I honestly didn't think it'd be good. But. Thank you :)  
Heres another chapter for you. I had nothing else to do so I thought I'd post another one.  
Let me know what you think. **

**Chapter 2**

"She's fine, Sam." Oliver said for the 100th time today. Sam had been tense and jumpy all morning. He had been rambling and asking a lot of questions, just to answer them him self 10 seconds after.

Sam snapped his head toward Oliver and gave him a disapproving look. "She hasn't been away from me for more than 4 hours in the past 6 months." He states matter-of-factly. "Sorry if I'm a bit weird."

The two stay in silence before Oliver decided to talk again.

"So. What about her teacher?"

Sam raised his eyebrows before he cleared his throat. "What about her teacher?"

"Well, what did they say? Are they nice? What's their name?"

Sam leant back on his desk and sighed. "Her name's Andrea. She is nice, and she said she's going to help Beth any way she can."

Oliver's eyes perked up when he realised it was a girl. "She hot?"

Sam's eyes widened and he glared at Oliver. Giving his friend another disapproving look.

"What?" Oliver shrugged. "You're trying to get Beth over it, why don't you do something to get over it too?"

Sam sat in thought. He had a point. But he wasn't ready to move on. He had an amazing life with Renee. They laughed and joked and she made him happy.

She was beautiful for sure and had the most amazing personality. She always made sure he and Beth were safe and counted for before she did things for herself. That was something that Sam always admired about her. She was so selfless.

He knew it was going to be near impossible to find someone as amazing as his wife was. But he also knew at the same time that he needed to move on. Maybe not with someone else, but maybe he just needed to come to terms that he'd never see his wife again.

Now that...that was hard to wrap is head around. When you were together with someone for 15 years, married for 10, it's hard to think you'd never see them again.

But, crap happens.

"I am getting over it." He retorted. "Slowly. But I'm getting there."

"Sam. You haven't been anywhere that doesn't have something to do with Beth's therapy or schooling, or work since Renee. You need to go out and have some fun, for yourself. Leave Beth with Zoe for a night and we'll party like crazy."

Sam shook his head. He wasn't leaving Beth anywhere that wasn't with him until he knew that she was over her depression.

"I'm not ready." Sam said with a shrug. "You can't expect me to move on so quickly."

"You don't have to date her, Sam." He said. "Just make a new friend. You're worried about Beth being anti-social, take a look at yourself."

"It's different." Sam argued. "She's a kid. She's meant to have friends."

"Adults aren't meant to be lonely either, brother." Oliver raised his eyebrows and gave Sam a bold stare.

Sam shook his head.

"Then just come over with Beth for some poker? Jerry and I have missed you." Oli joked with the last sentence, giving Sam a slap on the shoulder. "Poker tonight at my place. Bring Beth!" He yelled as he made his way to the locker room.

* * *

Sam and Beth laid down in the bed of Sam's truck, looking at the stars. They'd been outside Oliver's house for the past 20 minutes, but Beth didn't want to go inside yet.

He didn't mind. Quality time like this with Beth was important to him. And maybe she'd actually tell him something about what happened today.

She had her head on his stomach and her legs were hanging over the side of his truck. Sam was playing with her hair while she closed her eyes. He knew she wasn't sleeping though. She always had her mouth slightly parted when she slept.

"I don't like it." She finally whispered after another 10 minutes of watching stars. "Andrea's funny and she's nice." She sighed. "But I still don't like it."

He heard her yawn, then readjust herself upon him. "She talked to me a lot today about when she was little too. Said that we could share our secrets with each other because she promised they weren't going to leave the room."

Sam paused and waited for her to continue.

"I'm not allowed to tell you though." She sighed, looking up at her father. "It's why they call it a secret."

She quickly sat up and jumped over the side of the truck, landing a little wobbly on her feet, almost slipping on the thin layer of snow on the ground.

"Beth." Sam scolded. "Don't jump off the truck. How many times have I told you that? I don't want you to get hurt."

He heard a small chuckle escape her lips, making a large smile appear on his face.

Sam closed the opening to the bed and followed his daughter up the steps to the Shaw's.

Beth stood on her tippy toes and pressed the doorbell and then grasped her fathers hand in hers. He watched her body bob up and to make an attempt to stay warm.

Winter was terrible this year.

"Beth!" Zoe cheered when the door eventually opened. Zoe was the only woman that Beth would talk to, other than her therapist and, obviously her new teacher.

"Hi." She whispered. She slipped her hand out of Sam's and ran forward to meet Zoe in a bone-crushing hug. Zoe easily lifted Beth into her arms, and signaled for Sam to follow her into the house.

The Shaw home always felt, and smelt homely. It was always warm in the winter; the smell of baked goods somehow always seemed to fill the air.

The sound of Oliver and his girls could be heard throughout the house. No doubt they were trying to get Oliver to watch a Barbie with them.

"_The only thing I hate about being a dad is Barbie. I don't want my girls to grow up thinking they have to look like her." _

Oliver had told him that when Beth was two years old, and just starting to like things like Barbie. As soon as Oliver finished the statement, Sam went home and snapped every Barbie DVD they had, much to Renee's dislike.

Beth had never watched another Barbie show again.

"Girls!" Sam shouted from the hallway. A series of squeals could be heard, followed by the sound of little feet running along the floorboards.

"Uncle Sammy!" Izzy cried, jumping into Sam's arms as soon as she was in reach. Sam chuckled a little, before kneeling down to wrap his arms around the other two girls.

The Shaw's and Swarek's had been close for years. Sam had actually met Renee the same time Oliver met Zoe.

Renee and Zoe were best friends at the time, and Sam and Oliver had just gotten out of the academy. One thing led to another, 5 years later they were having a double wedding, and a year after that Izzy and Beth were born.

So it was sort of up to the Shaw's to make sure Sam and Beth were on track, as much as they knew Sam was in control of himself, and that he wasn't going to do anything bad to himself or Beth.

After everyone had said hello to each other, the group moved into the lounge where they all got comfortable.

Oliver had Izzy and Alice cuddled up against his sides, while Zoe held their youngest, Hannah, in her arms. Sam had his feet up on the recliner with Beth lying across his lap resting her head in his chest.

"We have time for a movie, and by then the food and Uncle Jerry will be here." Zoe explained, turning the TV on and changing it to DVD.

The girls' favourite movie 'Tangled' popped up on the screen, earning cheerful squeals from the Shaw girls and a groan from the men. Zoe sat back and chuckled.

Halfway through the movie there was a knock at the door. A muffled 'hello' came from behind the door before it opened. Loud footsteps and panting could be heard from the front of the house.

"Hey, Zo?" Zoe raised her eyebrows, then quickly stood and walked to the foyer. Oliver paused the movie and eyed Sam.

That definitely wasn't Jerry's voice.

A light chatter could be heard over the silence in the living room, before laughter erupted and Zoe plus the new person walked into the room.

When Sam saw who it was, he literally choked on nothing. Beth sat up quickly and her eyes widened when she saw whom it was.

"Girls, Oli, you already know who this is. But Sammy, and Beth, this is my Sister-In-Law, Andy."

Andy looked around the room after her introduction. Her eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw Sam and Beth sitting in Zoe's house. Her heart started pumping wildly and she felt like curling up into a ball and falling to the floor.

"Andrea?" Beth asked. "I didn't know you knew aunt Zoe." Her tone was hushed, almost a whisper.

"Aunt Zoe?" Andy questioned with a nervous chuckle. "I didn't think you did either, Beth."

Zoe shot Andy a look. "You already know each other?"

Sam abruptly stood up and stood in front of Beth. "Yeah." He coughed. "This is Beth's new teacher. As you guys already know, she started at a new school today."

"Hold up!" Oliver yelled, jumping off the couch, causing his two daughters to whine. "My wife's sister in law is Beth's new teacher." He almost laughed. "Andy McNally is Beth's new teacher?"

"I thought your name was Andrea." Sam said.

Andy nodded her head. "Yeah. It is, but. My family and friends call me Andy. I use Andrea for work." Andy cleared her throat.

Sam felt uncomfortable. This stranger, who is Beth's teacher, knows every single detail about Beth's life. About all her therapy and her depression. Oliver and Zoe didn't even know every single thing, and now they were in a house with the person who did.

There was no doubt that Andy was going to treat them differently than she would if they had never met, if she never happened to be Beth's new teacher.

"Well. At least you three could get to know each other more. I mean." Zoe sighed. "You're going to be a huge part of each other's lives for a long time now an..."

Before Zoe could finish, Sam held up a hand. He looked back at Beth on the couch and knelt down in front of her. "I'll be back in a sec, okay?" He watched her nod and sink into the cushions of the couch.

Sam made his way back into the kitchen, all adults following him until they were far enough for Beth not to hear.

"Don't talk about this kind of stuff around her. She's still a bit touchy on the subject of 'life'" Sam said quietly.

Andy sighed and rubbed her face.

"What's the big deal?" Oliver asked. "So Andy's Beth's new teacher. Big whoop."

"Big whoop?" Sam questioned. "Big whoop. Do you understand how hard this is for her?" he scowled. "She's already worried about people judging her, even when they don't know anything about what's happened to us and Renee. Andrea knows a hell of a lot more than what a lot of people do. It's going to be really hard for her now that we know that she's related to you guys."

Sam gave a sad chuckle. "She whispers around everyone but me, and they don't even know a quarter of what we're going through. I don't want her to become mute when the word finally gets around."

"Andy's not going to be here for long." Zoe said, eyeing Andy. "She's here for a few hours then she's going back home. We'll make sure you guys don't bump into each other anymore."

"And the word won't get around." Andy added.

After a moments silence,

"It is sort of a 'Big whoop'." Andy started. "There are rules that state we're not meant to have contact out of school because of personal reasons. Like how teachers might treat their students because they know about their personal lives. It makes sense."

"Yeah." Zoe sighed. "It does make sense."

Again, more silence.

Sam squeezed his eyes shut. "Uh." Sam sighed. "Yeah. Well. I think..." He muttered a curse under his breath before opening his eyes. "Mayb..."

"Uncle Sammy!" Izzy yelled. "Come here Uncle Sam. Somethings wrong with Beth!" All of the adults shut their mouths and looked at each other with a worried look.

Sam was out of the kitchen and next to Beth in a second. He could see her chest vigorously rising and falling, loud panting accompanying the action. Her hands were grasping the arms of the chair like a vice, and her head was started to shine with sweat.

"She's having a panic attack." Sam stated. He immediately went into action. "Someone please get a glass of water, pronto!" He shouted.

Sam knelt down in front of Beth and pulled her body into his. "Beth." He whispered. He started stroking her hair. "Hey Beth. Just breath in an out. Copy what I'm doing." He felt his daughter attempting to mimic him.

This wasn't the first time in her life this has happened. She had a few before Renee passed away, but they got worse once she left.

She had anxiety when she was younger as well, which only got worse when she gained depression 6 months back. If something seemed to overwhelm her too much, there was a high chance of a panic attack.

He felt her tears starting to seep through his shirt, and he could hear her struggling to breath. It hurt to see her like this.

It always hurt to see her suffering.

"Here" Zoe said, passing Sam a folded, wet flannel. He pulled back a little from Beth and wiped it across her head in attempt to keep her cool.

Her eyes were closed, and tears were cascading down her face, almost like waterfalls.

"Mom." Beth whispered. Soon it would turn into screaming. He knew it.

"Oliver." Sam said hurriedly. "Oli. Take the girls upstairs, quickly."

Oliver gathered the girls and put them in their rooms, telling them to wait up here until he called them back down. Oliver was nervous. He had experienced some of Beth's minor attacks, but seeing Sam's actions and hearing his tone, he knew that it wasn't minor this time.

When Oliver joined them all back downstairs, he saw Andy kneeling down next to Sam.

"Beth." Andy said. "Beth. There is nothing you need to worry about." Beth took a large breath. "Your dad's here, and your Aunt Zoe and Uncle Oli. You have to open your eyes."

Her breathing had settled slightly. "Good girl, Beth." Sam whispered, kissing her head lovingly. "Calm down. No screaming or shouting. I don't want you to scream anymore. When you open your eyes, daddy will be here."

It killed Sam to hear her screams and wails and pleads after an attack. Every time it happened she'd call for Renee. The worst part though, was the screams when Sam would remind her that Renee wasn't there.

When she opened her eyes Sam saw how red they were. They looked tired and worn out. But overall, his daughter looked defeated.

She wrapped her thin arms around Sam's neck and squeezed as tight as she could without choking him.

Finally, she sobbed.

And then came the screams.

* * *

"Thanks." Sam said.

Sam and Andy were finally able to get Beth settled, and to sleep.

"You really looked like you knew what you were doing back there." He commented, slightly interested in how she knew what to do. He watched Andy's facial expression change. Her eyebrows furrowed and she bit her bottom lip subconsciously.

"Experience...or?"

Andy chuckled. "I don't think it's really any of your business." She snapped her eyes to Sam's and raised her eyebrows.

"Okay." Sam breathed, holding both hands up in surrender. He smirked a little at her attitude. "Just a question."

The duo were standing in the kitchen of Sam's house, drinking coffee. After Beth's attack Sam needed some help getting home, seeing as Beth wouldn't let go of him.

They were breaking the rules right now.

Whoops.

"I'd like it if we didn't talk about it." Andy shrugged, finishing the last of her coffee and placing it lightly on the table. "I love your house, by the way."

"Yeah." Sam sighed. He cleared his throat a little before continuing. "Renee designed basically the whole house. The only thing I did was the garage because she had told me on more than one occasion that she wouldn't ever go in it." He looked around the kitchen, and his eyes landed upon the disgusting bright green curtains.

He shuddered and made a vomiting motion. "I never liked those curtains. She insisted though."

Andy gave Sam a small grin. She could imagine what Sam's wife would look like. Well...because Beth didn't really look like her father, she must look like her mom. Beth was a really pretty girl, so it made sense.

"So..." Andy breathed, wanting to get off topic. "You're a cop." She said. More of a statement than a question. "Why?"

From the 3 hours that Andy and he had been in their kitchen, they had talked a bit. He let it slip through a sentence that he had been a cop for the same amount of time he'd been with Renee. She also found out how long he and Beth had known the Shaw's for.

The answer was a lot longer than Andy had known them.

He also found out a few things about her. Unfortunately, nothing about her past. All he had found out was that...1) She was beautiful. 2) She was smart. 3) She had 2 other students before Renee, and she was still considered the best teacher they had. And 4) Sam was starting to like her.

Not in a romantic way.

At least he hoped it wasn't in a romantic way. It was too early for him to move on anyway. He just wasn't ready...

He didn't think.

"Don't think it's any of your business." Sam repeated her answer under his breath, giving an unsatisfied huff afterwards, then an internal grin. He heard harmonic giggle escape her lips. He was going to give a smile back, but stopped.

Was this flirting?

What in the freakin' hell was he doing?

"Well." Andy sighed before Sam could talk. "I better go. It's 11:00pm and I have to get home to Luke."

Sam inwardly groaned. That wasn't something that he had learned about her earlier.

She had a boyfriend.

Awesome.

**Again, please let me know what you think.  
I'm really unsure about it.  
:)**


	3. Chapter 3 - Not to hate

**Hello. I'm back again.  
This chapter is a bit shorter than all the others, only because I wanted to show you guys where about's Andy, Sam and Beth are with each other before I continued onto the more full on chapters.  
Let me know what you think :) **

**Chapter 3**

"What's wrong, Beth?" Andy asked, sitting back in her chair and eying the small girl in front of her. She put her finger tips together and she cleared her throat. Beth looked different today. Her hair was tied back and she was in tracksuit pants and a hooded jumper. It wasn't the same way she had decided to dress for the past few weeks.

She watched Beth's pony tail move side to side when she shook her head. Again, she wouldn't say a word to Andy unless she was answering schoolwork. Other than that, while she was at her therapy sessions she had almost been mute.

Andy decided to take a different approach. "Do you want to get better?"

Beth's blue orbs set upon Andy's. They were glistening against the harsh light brightening Andy's office. She gave a sharp nod.

"Then talk to me. Let me help you." Andy was determined to help this little girl. She saw her history. How many schools her dad had put her in, and how many therapy sessions she had been to before her therapist finally gave up and told Sam to put her in a clinic to help her get better.

Beth looked back to the floor and crossed her arms across her waist, almost like she wanted the chair to absorb her.

"Why won't you talk?" Andy asked. "Are you embarrassed?" She waited a few seconds. "Are you scared? Confused?"

Beth nodded.

"Confused?" Beth moved her eyeballs to Andy, but didn't move any other part of her body.

Andy would admit Beth was making it hard to help herself get better. Throughout the weeks the therapy sessions had done nothing to change the way Beth was around her. When she did finally speak, it was in a whisper.

But as she promised, she'd keep trying.

"I know what it's like." Andy tried, leaning her elbows on her desk. Beth rested her eyes back on he fidgeting fingers, suddenly wanting to pick the old, cracked nail polish off them. "Not first hand, but I do."

Beth continued to act as if Andy wasn't there.

"My dad had an experience like yours once." She began. "He was a firefighter actually." She chuckled a little. "He saw something terrible, he started to become a bit like you. Anti-social and all. But his turned worse."

Beth finally decided to give Andy a break, and she moved her head and watched Andy's facial expression. Her attitude changed from Andrea to Andy in a second.

"He needed to go to rehab because he started drinking himself down the drain. He'd be fine one night, taking care of me and making sure I was okay, next minute..." She took a deep breath, but still ensured she kept eye contact with Beth.

This was an attempt to make her trust Andy.

Yes, Andy had shared some stuff with her last week, but it was nothing huge. Just how old she was, when she was born and where. Whether she was married or had kids. But, she didn't want it to get personal until it had to.

And Andy believed it had to.

"He'd be yelling at me, telling me all these crazy things that I didn't want to even think about coming out of my fathers mouth. He'd throw beer bottles at walls and yell at himself. Then he'd start hyperventilating and having panic attacks. Me and my step brothers Luke and Pat didn't have a clue what to do." Beth gave her a look of remorse.

"I don't want to get into too much detail today. But...In the end he ended up dying 2 months into the program."

Beth's eyes immediately looked back at her hands, and her body sunk down in the large couch especially for her. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her thin arms tightly around them.

Andy didn't know if it was really appropriate to share her story with Beth. But if she was finally going to talk, Andy would do anything.

"My mom," Beth whispered. Her voice was hoarse, so she cleared her throat. "she..."

Andy could already see the tears forming in her eyes. Her cheeks were starting to go blotchy and her bottom lip was starting to tremble.

"Beth." Andy said calmly. "We need to remember to relax and not to panic, okay?" She watched Beth nod and breath heavily.

Since the panic attack at the Shaw's 5 weeks ago, Beth had experienced 2 more, both because of the therapy side of Beth's schooling. She honestly didn't know how Sam dealt with them alone.

Both times Andy had called Sam. He and Oliver had to speed over to the Learning Centre. A 30-minute drive suddenly turned into a 10 minute one. It had taken more time than usual to make her calm down, but she did eventually.

"When I have attacks I see her."

"Your mom?" Andy wanted to jump up and do a victory dance. She had finally said something about her mother. Right about now Andy wanted every trophy and medal in the history of the world.

"Yeah. I see her..." She whispered the last word. "All...cold skinned and pale." She choked on her words. "The worst part about the whole situation is that I couldn't even tell it was her."

By now, Beth had tears rolling down her cheeks. Beth's sob finally ripped through her throat. Andy wanted so badly to jump off her seat and comfort her. But really, it was against the rules.

But one thing she was extremely happy about?

Andy had finally made progress.

* * *

While Beth was in the bathroom, Andy walked into reception to see Sam sitting on the couch. Andy gave a little squeal and ran toward him.

"I did it!" She cheered.

Sam raised an eyebrow at Andy.

"Beth talked to me today. She actually said more than one word to me!" Her big, toothy satisfied grin put a dimpled smile on his face.

"Thank god." He said, letting out a huge breath of relief. He was starting to worry Andy would finally give up. 5 weeks and she had finally started talking.

"It wasn't much, and whatever is said in the room stays in the room, so I'm not going to tell you what she said. But it's progress." The smile on Andy's face was almost impossible to ignore.

It could have possibly been the biggest one he'd seen on her face since they met. Sure they'd only met 5 weeks back, but they had become closer than Sam could've ever thought. More than he wanted...

**Flashback**

"_Sam. I know I'm a stranger." Andy sighed. "But I think it'll really help."_

_Sam had been shaking his head ever since she first let out the suggestion. There was no way in hell he was going._

"_Look. We've known each other for 3 weeks, I get why you wouldn't trust me. But I do think it'll help you. And I know you might've wanted it to be with Oli and Zoe because they're your family an-"_

"_Yeah." Sam cut in. "I would want to do it with them because they're my family. Because I've known them for 15 years, so why are you pressuring me into going now?"_

_Andy groaned. "Because..." _

_She took another 10 seconds to try and come up with a good reason, before huffing. "Fine. Don't take my offer. But, you already know that I've talked to Beth about it, and she was fine with staying with Oli and Zoe while we went."_

_Sam ended up having his first drink in a pub in 6 months with Andy._

**End Flashback**

Exactly a week after, they went out again, and yesterday, they went again.

He honestly didn't know what he was doing. It felt so wrong to enjoy himself when he was out with Andy. Firstly because of Renee, and secondly because of Beth.

Especially Beth.

He didn't know what to tell her if he told his daughter that he had moved on, only almost 7 months after his wife of 10 years passed away. But he wouldn't need to tell Beth anything because he wasn't moving on. At all.

But he was starting to not hate Andy. It was totally wrong and he knew he was moving on too quickly.

But why did it feel right?

But she had a boyfriend. Or husband. Or...whatever he was. Sam hadn't learnt anything else about Luke yet.

Luke.

He kind of felt like punching the guy in the face. Not because Sam wanted to date Andy or anything...

But, he could feel some kind of attraction, and obviously this Luke guy was getting in the way. Well, to Sam he was anyways.

But Sam was convincing himself that Luke wasn't getting in the way of anything, because nothing was happening, and nothing was going to happen.

But he still felt like beating him.

The only thing Sam knew about Luke, was that his name was Luke and he lived with Andy. He didn't know how long they'd been dating or married for, or if she had kids.

Andy hadn't mentioned him either of the 3 times they'd been out together, so it must've been okay that she was 'helping out a clients father'.

But it wasn't a date. It was never a date.

"I'm really happy you're the one helping Beth, you know." Sam said. "She's finally starting to open up to someone other than me, and she hardly even said anything to me either. She went through the hardest part of Renee's death."

Sam could tell Andy was appreciating his praises. Her face had softened and her eyes started glistening.

"I don't know exactly what she went through. But I know more than most people do, so when she finally tells you more about what happened that night and when you finally help her get better, you will be our saviour. You'll be her hero."

He sighed.

"I promise you that."

Sam gave Andy a one armed hug, and he was enjoying it a lot more than he wanted to. Andy wrapped a loose arm around his back and put her face lightly on his neck.

Her warm, watermelon scented body up against his was about the warmest feeling he had felt after Beth's last attack.

God he felt like a dick for liking her. Even though it wasn't even a proper like. It wasn't even close to love.

He just didn't hate her.

He wasn't moving on though. He didn't want Andy to feel like a rebound. He didn't want her to feel worthless or anything, because she wasn't. She was basically the most amazing female he knew.

She was amazing because even after 5 weeks of Beth saying nothing, not once did she complain to Sam. Not once did she ever say that she thought Beth wouldn't get better. Not once did she complain about Beth being a sook and not wanting to let out her feelings.

Not once did she act like the other therapists that he sent Beth to, that had given up on her on the 3rd week.

He was starting not to hate Andy McNally.

And it was making him angry.

**Leave a review. Let me know thoughts/suggestions.  
Thank you :)**


	4. Chapter 4 - Bastard

**Hi again! Thanks again for the positive reviews. It's my first story and the encouragement is unbelievable, so thank you all. :)****  
**

**Because I live in Australia and school holidays are approaching I really hope I'll be able to update this story consistently.  
This chapter is where the heavy sort of stuff starts to come in. Soon it'll be more gruesome, so just a WARNING.  
Here's chapter 4. Please let me know your thoughts!**

**Chapter 4**

"Hey Oliver!" Andy cheered, placing her keys and handbag on the Shaw's kitchen table and plonking herself on one of their chairs.

"Evening, Andrea." Oliver nodded.

"Ugh. Don't call me that."

"Sammy and Beth did."

"Beth still does." She corrected. "It's my teaching name."

"I didn't even know your name was Andrea." She watched him pull out a chair and sit opposite her. She looked at the man she had only known for a short time.

They'd known each other 5 years.

She met Zoe and Oli the day Zoe's sister married Andy's stepbrother Luke. The 'steps' had become too confusing once Luke married Tasha, so they all just called themselves in-laws.

"How are you treating Sammy and Beth?"

The question had been on his mind for a while now. Ever since the three had run into each other in this very house.

"Excuse me?" Andy raised an eyebrow.

Oliver shrugged. "How are they going?"

"Why don't you call Sam and ask him?" She asked sarcastically. She jumped off her chair and got herself a glass of water.

"What about Beth's therapy?"

"It's confidential."

Oliver shook his head slowly from side to side with an unsatisfied look on his face. "Are you and Sam going out again tomorrow night?"

Andy's face perked up. "Yeah!" She grinned. "We're going out to the Black Penny. He said it was an old bar he used to go to with Renee, but it's a surprise so don't let him kn..."

"No." Oliver almost screamed. He jumped off his chair, giving Andy a fright. "No. He's not going to the Penny. And either are you. Take him somewhere else."

The young brunette groaned. "Oliver." She whined. "Why not? It'll be fun."

"It won't be fun for him, trust me. It'll just bring back memories."

"Obviously it will. That's the point. I'm trying to help him fa..."

"It's where Renee was found dead, Andy."

Andy immediately shut her mouth, and stopped any type of complaint that was about to come out of her mouth.

"Yeah. It's where her body was found. I'm not going to say anything else about it, because it's not my place. But just do _not_ take him there."

"Okay." Andy finally said, adding quick nods. "I won't take him there."

"Good." Oliver said. "That's a good idea."

Andy chuckled and drank a bit of her water, loving how the cold liquid finally made it easier to breath. She wasn't expecting what Oliver had told her, at all.

* * *

"Do you like Andrea?" Beth asked. She was sitting on the couch opposite her dad. Her arms were crossed on her chest and one leg was over the other. She had one raised eyebrow and her head was tipped down a little, trying to give her father a hard glare.

"What!?"

"I said. Do you like, Andrea?"

"Beth." Sam sighed. "That's ridiculous, okay?"

"So, you aren't saying no?" She rushed. "So you do like her. Why? I thought you loved mom!" She said, jumping off the couch and pacing the length of it.

"Beth. We're friends. Just like Aunt Zoe and me. She has a boyfriend anyway s-''

"No she doesn't." Beth cut it. "She doesn't have a boyfriend, or husband, or kids. She told me."

"Oh." Sam said. "Then who in the hell is Luke?" He mumbled to himself. Mostly to himself anyway.

"I'm not allowed to tell. But she's not dating anyone. Why?" She asked. "Do you want to date her or something? Are you already replacing mom!" She was screaming now.

As much as Sam hated to be the one she was screaming about. She was finally getting angry. She was getting her thoughts out. It almost made him smile in a serious situation.

"No body is replacing anyone, Beth."

"Yeah. Until you and Andrea get together and get married and have kids too, then I'll be forgotten about! Then I'll be the one who finds you instead of mom chopped up in freezer bags and dumped next to a dumpster. Then I'll be forced to try and continue my life with a step-mother after another traumatic experience!"

Beth was jumping to conclusions. She was absolutely hysterical. Her breathing was erratic and her face was bright red and her body had started to become weak.

"Beth. You know that's not going to happe-''

"Won't it?" She screeched. "It happened to mom. Why won't it happen to you?"

Beth fell onto the couch and smothered her face into the cushion. She was trying to stop herself from panicking. She was also mumbling words to herself, obviously giving a little pep talk to try and calm herself down.

But she wasn't finished.

She jumped up off the couch and walked around to stand in front of Sam.

"You can't replace mom."

"I'm not replacing mom. I promise you that I won't replace your mother." He went to reach out to grab her hand, but she jerked away. He tried again, but she stepped back again.

"Beth..." He whispered. She still continued to walk away from Sam, and back to her seat on the couch.

"Do you like Andrea?" She asked once more. He looked at his small, fragile daughter and knew he couldn't lie. Her innocent eyes were on his, just daring him to say the wrong thing.

"I...I don't hate her, Beth."

He watched a tear run down his daughter's cheek.

"Why?"

"Because I found someone who is willing to help you. And she's not only helping you, she's helping me too."

"By taking you out on dates?" she accused.

"They aren't dates, Beth!" Sam argued. "It's going out with a friend. She's taking me out, as a friend. Nothing more."

"Nothing more, yet."

Sam looked at his hands. "Yeah, yet." He whispered.

Beth curled herself into a ball and rested her back on the armrest. "So something might happen?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know." He looked at his daughter. "But I need a way to get over it too Beth. I've been concentrating on getting you better that I haven't realised that I'm not exactly doing great either."

"I know."

"We both need to move on. We need a change, Beth."

He watched Beth nod her head and close her eyes. She sunk further into the couch. "How?"

"I think..." He got more comfortable. "I think maybe after Andy helps us get better, that maybe...we should move. You know. Just out of Toronto. There's too many memories here, and it'll be good when we're better to start fresh."

"What did you have in mind?" She asked. Beth had lived in Toronto all her life, and it might be hard to adjust to a move. But it would be better than being reminded of your dead mother every waking moment.

"I was thinking, maybe St Catherine's?"

"St Catherine's?" She asked. "What's in St Catherine's?"

Sam shook his head. "There's nothing special in St Catherine's. It's just, it's only an hour and a half drive from Toronto and we can still visit Aunt Zoe and Uncle Oli without having to spend a lot of money."

"What about Andrea?" She asked. Sam have her a look of confusion.

"If you get together, what will she think?"

Her question surprised Sam, a lot. He didn't even think about Andy when he thought about moving. And he thought she didn't even want him to be near Andy...

"Right now? It doesn't matter." He settled on. "What does matter, is you. I want you and I to be happy again. That's all that matters right now."

* * *

"Beth wasn't too hard to leave behind this time." The man beside her said thankfully. "There was no sign of tears or screaming or even panic. She stayed calm! That's good, right?" He asked her.

Andy smiled and nodded. "It is. It's really good." She decided to elaborate. "It's good she's finally getting used to not being with you for more than just school hours."

Sam clapped his hands together once and rubbed his hands in attempt to stay warm. "I'm in a really great mood tonight." He shared. "Beth's not crying. She told me she was happy staying with Oliver. I'm going out again with an amazing woman." He sighed. "It's just a great night."

Andy chuckled. "You think I'm amazing?" She asked with a hint of amusement in her tone. The tinge of redness in her cheeks was becoming much more noticeable.

He snapped his head towards her. "No..." He started. His eyes widened. "I mean. Yes...No. Yeah." He cleared his throat to stop the rambling.

"Anyone who doesn't think you're amazing is an idiot." He avoided eye contact for the whole confession.

She gave Sam a serious look. She could tell that he was embarrassed. He was nearly the same colour as she was just a few seconds ago. The same colour that she probably still was.

"Thanks, Sam."

The two walked into the Alpine Inn and took a seat at the bar. Andy didn't like the look of it. It was small, smelt of drugs and men's body odor. There were a lot of dodgy looking people, who were obviously as high as a kite.

While they were waiting for their drinks, she looked across at Sam.

She really wanted to ask him if the attraction she was feeling was mutual. It felt wrong to be attracted to her student's father. It was against the rules, which she already knew, and she also knew it would probably kill Beth.

Beth was finally starting to talk to her, and Andy was making progress. How would it end up if Andy started dating her father...?

But Andy could see a life with Sam. Even though it was totally inappropriate, she did anyway. The way he was around Beth warmed her heart. She always hoped that someday she'd find someone like Sam. Who'd go through anything to make sure his family was safe.

And he was doing that.

But he needed time, and Beth needed time.

She'd give them time. She'd give them as much time as they needed to get over Renee. And she wasn't going to rush them; she was going to help them. Because that's what she wanted to do.

And it's what they needed.

The barmen gave them both a beer. Andy swiveled on her chair to face Sam, and he did the same.

God, he was handsome. His dark hair and eyes and dimples were the most perfect combination. It wasn't even funny. It was actually hard not to touch his face.

He was just the right height and his muscularity was beyond fine.

"We should go out." Came a small voice. Andy's eyes widened when she realised it was her who said it. Sam had choked on his beer and started coughing loudly. "As friends!" Andy said quickly. "As friends. Just like. Not just a beer, you know?"

She watched Sam nod and continue to clear his throat.

"Yeah." He finally got out. "What about Luke?"

"What do you mean? What about Luke?"

Sam chuckled. "Do you think he'll care?" Sam didn't think Beth would lie to him about Andy being single, but he needed clarification.

"Why would my brother care about me going out with a friend?"

Brother.

Praise the Lord.

"Like. Maybe just going to the movies or out to a diner or something?" She shrugged. Sam just kept nodding. He couldn't even muster words.

What she asked was completely unexpected. Sure...he was thinking the same thing. But he wasn't expecting her to ask first. He was expecting it to be him asking her out on a proper date once he and Beth were over Renee.

But as she said. They were going out as friends.

"Sorry if that was unexpected." She said apologetically. "It's just...I feel something, you know?"

Sam shook his head and looked over Andy's shoulder.

"You don't feel anything?"

Sam just kept shaking his head and made his hands into fists, clenching tightly, almost turning his knuckles pure white.

His jaw was clenched and she could see fire starting in his eyes.

"YOU LITTLE PRICK!" He yelled. He jumped up off his seat and pushed past Andy. Quickly, Andy put a bill on the bar and jumped off her seat after him.

"YOU WRECKED MY FAMILY!" She heard. But she couldn't find him. There was a group of people gathering into a corner of the bar.

"Officer Swarek, what a surprise." Came a cold voice.

"You'll pay what you did to my girls. I promise that." Sam voice was toned down, and she could tell that he was pissed.

Andy walked around the other side of the bar to see Sam standing opposite a blonde, older looking male. He had small facial hair and cold, dull eyes.

"What on earth did I do, Officer?" He asked sarcastically. Andy looked between the two men, before her eyes landed on Sam.

In the 6 weeks they new each other, she had never seen him like this. Ever. She didn't know what was happening with him.

"Jamie. You know exactly what you did." He said. "You know what you did to my wife and I will make your life a living hell until you are put behind bars."

"It's lovely to see you too." Jamie smiled. His teeth were scary and revolting.

Sam dared a look toward Andy, then back at Jamie. "The only reason I'm not choking you right now, beating the living daylights out of you, is because of that woman right there." He pointed his finger to Andy. "But if I was here alone, you'd be dead in a second."

"Already moving on, are we Swarek? What's it been, 7 months?"

"None of that is your business."

Jamie gave an evil laugh. "Oh, Swarek. How is your daughter taking the news? Already gotten her a new mother."

"Hey." Andy said. She stepped in-between the two men, facing Jamie. "Leave Sam and his daughter alone. You have no right to say anything about them, so don't."

Jamie's eyes widened and a disgusting grin appeared on his face. "I like her, Swarek. She's feisty."

Sam grabbed Andy's arm and pulled her behind him. "Don't ever speak to her, or about her." He warned.

Sam's face had turned red again, this time because of anger, not embarrassment.

He almost ran out of the bar with Andy in tow. He slammed the door to the Alpine Inn, slammed his truck doors and threw his keys onto the ground of the truck when he couldn't get them in the ignition.

"Freakin' hell." He muttered, digging the palms of his hands onto his eyes until it hurt.

Andy didn't want to say anything. She was scared that she'd somehow say the wrong thing and make the situation worse.

Sam was sitting on his seat; contemplating the million ways he could have killed the man inside the bar. The most satisfying would be the same way Renee was killed.

He would get a taste of his own medicine. But Sam wouldn't hurt anyone unless it was self-defense. It'd be hard to say chopping someone up was defending himself.

"That...was Jamie Brennan. He killed my wife.

There wasn't evidence. But I know he did.

And the bastard got away with it."

**Ahh, and yeah. So. That happened.**

**Let me know what you think, and any suggestions would be great too.  
Thanks for reading! :)****  
**

**I'll get the next chapter up ASAP. **


	5. Chapter 5

**And here's another one. Once again, thanks for the reviews. They're actually encouraging me to update quicker!  
Just letting you know that I'm not exactly sure how long this story will be. I hope it lasts a while, but. I'm not sure. I have a lot of idea's, so just stick with me, please!  
Not sure about this but...  
Enjoy, and let me know what you think.**

**Chapter 5**

"Well done!" Andy said, throwing her fisted hands in the air. Her eyes were sparkling and her smile was covering almost half her face.

Beth had been stuck on a math question for the past 20 minutes.

"Oh my gosh, I did it!" Beth squealed, jumping up and down on her chair. Her dimples were making an appearance, and it did wonders to her face. She was already beautiful, but the smile made her look amazing.

Andy jumped off her chair, and hugged Beth tight to her body. "Screw the rules." She muttered, making Beth chuckle a little.

Beth, Sam and Andy were all aware of the rules. No contact inside or outside school.

They broke that rule the first day.

"Thanks so much, Andrea." Beth said softly, making her hold on Andy tighter. But two seconds later, she pulled back like she had been burnt. Andy raised a wondering eyebrow at her, and watched as the little girl sat back in her chair and slumped her shoulders.

"Beth?" Andy asked. "Why did you do that? You were just screaming and happy and now..." She pointed a hand to Beth.

"My dad told me about you and him." She shrugged.

"What about me and him?" Andy asked, again, raising her eyebrows.

Beth groaned and rubbed her face angrily. "How you two 'don't hate' each other, and how something might happen in the future, blah, blah, blah." She trailed off and shook her head slightly. "You're not my mom."

"Of course I'm not your mom!" Andy choked out with wide eyes. "I wouldn't dream of replacing your mom, Beth." She said, slightly softer this time.

"But you like him?"

Andy nodded. "Yeah. I do. But, I'm not going to pressure him, or hurt him or make him do something he doesn't want to do. I don't even know if he likes me back. He's not ready and I know that, and I'm okay with that."

"Are you?" She asked with an accusing tone. It was almost like Beth was interrogating her.

A 9-year old girl was interrogating someone 20 years older than her.

"Yes, I am."

"I don't hate you, you know." Beth advised. "And my dad does like you."

"I liked to think you two didn't hate me." Andy said with a small laugh. She closed her eyes for a second and then opened them, preparing herself for more questions.

"But he 'like, like's' you." Beth mumbled. "Not just friends. Like. He wants to...kiss you and stuff." She scrunched up her nose and shook her head.

Andy have a small laugh. "I wouldn't take it that far yet, Beth."

"I want you to be friends with my dad." She said. "He hasn't done anything to make himself better, he's only been concentrating on getting me better and it isn't fair."

"I am. I am friend's with your dad."

"And it's going to turn into more. You don't need to deny it." Beth said. "I don't mind that you and him are going out some nights and hanging out together.

But I'm not ready for a new mom."

"I'm not going to be your new mom." Andy almost whispered. She was getting frustrated. How many times has she told Beth she wasn't going to replace her mom?

Andy didn't want to replace Renee. She felt terrible the moment Beth even suggested she was doing so.

"Just...wait around?" Beth asked. She gave a small shrug of her shoulders. "I mean. Don't let me get in the way of you and my dad in the future."

Andy was surprised at how mature Beth was being right now. She really didn't know what to say. She wanted to hang around. She didn't want to not give her and Sam a shot.

"He deserves a shot at happiness again." Beth let out.

"I'll stay around." Andy said with a small smile. "What time is it?" She wondered out loud, looking at her watch.

"It's 1:30. Therapy time." Beth deadpanned.

"Therapy time." Andy repeated.

"Can't we just skip it for today?" She whined. "I mean. Look. I'm talking to you and dad normally. No more whispering. I'm getting my attitude back. What's the big deal?"

Andy nodded. "Yeah. You're talking better, but only to two people. Even around Zoe and Oliver you still whisper. And you still haven't gotten out all your thoughts. Your dad told me you're still having nightmares."

"Did he tell you on your date the other night?" She said, in more of a teasing tone this time.

"No, silly." Andy chuckled. "No dates. Just going out as friends."

"Yeah, yeah." Beth said, rolling her eyes. Andy gave the girl a little smirk, before they made their way to the couches in Andy's office.

On the way, Beth grabbed the jar of candy sitting idly on the coffee table. She sat back in her chair with the jar on her lap.

She was becoming more comfortable around Andy. It took her 7 weeks, but she was comfortable around Andy.

"So," Andy started. "Tell me about home."

"You always ask me about home." Beth muttered.

"Yeah, but you never tell me." Andy argued. "I'll stop asking the question once you answer it."

"Fine." Beth settled on. "Home is fine."

"Yeah? What about panicking. Do you panic a lot at home anymore?"

Beth shook her head. "No. The panicking is getting a bit better."

"Why?"

She shrugged her shoulders and unwrapped a candy. She threw it in her mouth and started chewing. "I don't know."

"Try and think of something." Andy suggested, leaning back on her chair in attempt to get comfortable.

This was literally the most willing Beth had ever been before. It was making something warm start in the pit of Andy's stomach.

"It's been a long time since it's happened. Maybe I'm getting over it."

"You could be." Andy agreed. "Or maybe you're just sick of being upset. Maybe you know that it's bad for you and that you're not helping yourself or your dad by not even trying to get better." She paused. "This is the most you've talked to me in 7 weeks."

"I like you." Beth confessed. "I like that you want to help me. I like that you don't pressure me, and that even though you've known me for almost 2 months and I've hardly said anything to you, that you still want to help me."

"I do want to help you." Andy said. "Even if it's the last thing I do, I'll help you."

"Thanks." Beth whispered. "I think..." She stopped and ate another candy, then took a large breath. "I think maybe since tomorrow's Saturday, I should stay with Aunt Zoe and Uncle Oli for the day."

"What!?" Andy choked out. Her eyes were nearly popping out of her head and her breathing was becoming restricted.

"So you and my dad can get to know each other more."

Andy gave Beth a small grin. "You don't mind being away from your dad for that long?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

She shook her head. "Nope. I need to get use to it. I can't always depend on him to be there for me. It's not fair to him."

"Maybe we should ask him." Andy said.

* * *

"Don..." Sam warned, shaking his head. "Beth's not even over her depression yet, how can you expect me to do this?" He yelled. "She's 9. She's 9 years old, her mom got murdered and now you're trying to send her only family undercover?"

Sam gave a little chuckle. "No. It's not happening. I told you I was done with undercover even before Beth was born. And still you made me go twice after that!"

"You loved it before Beth was born though." Boyd argued.

"Yeah, I did. But now I love something more."

"It's to take down Brennan, Sam." Boyd advised. "You'll finally be able to get him for what he did to your wife. He'll be in a cell for good. Life in jail. Done. He'll be done!"

Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing. The sound of Brennan being behind bars for life was music to his ears. He was shaking his head, tears almost forming in his eyes.

"What if he sees me?" Sam questioned. "What if he comes to a meeting or something, then what's gonna happen? He'll out me, and kill me. Then Beth will have no one. I already told her nothing was going to happen to me!"

"You won't even be in Toronto, Sam." Boyd said, as calmly as possible. "There's a group of guys in Vancouver. They say they'll do whatever they can to take him down. Brennan did some crazy shit to their families too. Plus, it's more about gathering evidence. You won't have contact with Brennan or anything. "

"Then why is it undercover?" Sam groaned.

"Because we can't risk it, Sam. What if Brennan has told some of his guys your name and the word got around? Your kid can't go with you, just incase it gets tough."

"Why can't you put someone else in?" Sam snapped.

Boyd gave a loud groan. "Because, Sammy! You're the best there is. Yeah, you haven't done it in a while. But you're good; I know you're good. You know you're good." He sighed. "Plus. I've already asked nearly all my guys. They've all said no."

Sam closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing. This couldn't be happening.

He knew Beth wouldn't want to stay with the Shaw's until Sam came home. He knew he was just going to screw her up even more.

And this thing with Andy? He finally found out that she liked him back. He was going to put absolutely everything on hold.

It was ridiculous.

But he wanted justice for his family. He really, really did. He wanted to be able to tell his wife's photo that he finally took down the bastard that mutilated her. The one made her daughter and husbands lives a living hell.

Renee would be proud of him. And he wanted her to be proud.

But not only Renee. He wanted Beth and Andy to be proud of him too. He wanted to come back from the op and tell Beth that Brennan was finished.

It was something he dreamt of since he and Andy ran into Boyd at the Alpine Inn. How was he supposed to know that Brennan was going to be there?

Either way, he didn't mind that he crashed into Brennan. It just gave him more determination to kill the guy.

"I don't want to leave Beth behind." He admitted. "Oliver and Zoe won't be able to handle her all by themselves. She'll start to close up again. She's finally talking properly to me again, there are huge chances that it'll take weeks or months for us to get back to this point if I leave."

"Make a decision, Sam."

Shit.

* * *

"Morning." Andy said when she got to the Swarek's front door. Beth was in a white, long sleeved dress, a navy blue coat and a pair of black combat boots.

Her hair was down and wavy, and she had a white, lacey headband in it.

She looked adorable. And her eyes looked even bluer than they normally did. Which automatically made her think of Renee. Even though she didn't even know what the woman looked like.

"Andrea!" She smiled. She wrapped her arms around Andy's thin waist and rested her ear on Andy's stomach. "Dad's ready. He said he'd be out in a second." She tilted her head back, but kept her arms wrapped around Andy's waist.

Andy had her arms wrapped around the little girls shoulders. She tapped a finger on Beth's nose, and chuckled when Beth let out a giggle.

Sam was standing in the hallway watching the two girls interact. They were completely oblivious to his presence.

Today, he was going to tell them bad news. And it was definitely something he wasn't looking forward to.

Andy and Beth approached him yesterday after school and asked him about today. It was actually Andy that suggested that Beth went out with them too.

Beth and Sam's dimples were both really hard to miss.

For Sam to see another woman that Beth was comfortable around made him get butterflies. It was also good that the woman that Beth liked was someone that he liked too. Beth even told him she didn't hate her, which also gave him butterflies.

"We ready?" Sam asked when he finally decided to show them he was there. Beth nodded excitedly and grabbed Andy's hand in hers.

Andy widened her eyes, but didn't let go.

One thing that was bugging Andy about the whole situation...was the rules, the rules that stated that there was to be no contact with students or parents outside of school.

Problem was...Andy made those rules, for her. She lied about the rules. She did it to protect herself.

If she wanted to, she could change them in a second.

A minute later, the three were on the road. First they were going to a diner for breakfast, and then they were going to go out to the Zoo. Although Andy said that Beth might want to do something more exciting, Sam managed to tell her that if Beth got to choose, she'd say the Zoo.

He'd bet money on it.

The ride over to the diner was silent, but comfortable. Beth had one hand in either one of Sam and Andy's. She was resting her head on Sam's shoulder.

Andy looked on at the two and grinned.

Only god knew how much she wanted that.

She never got a relationship with her dad though. Well...when she was Beth's age she did, in a way. A few years later it turned to shit.

The closest thing she had to what Sam and Beth had, was Luke. Her stepbrother meant everything to her growing up. She was the one picking her up on a bad day, or lending a hand when she needed one.

Or in this case, supporting her till the very end.

Before they knew it, they were seated at a booth in the diner. Andy was sitting across from Sam and Beth. Which is something she didn't mind at all. She loved watching them.

As creepy as it sounded...

"Pancakes." Beth said, almost in a whisper again. They were out in public so she was going back to shy Beth.

Great.

"You don't want to speak up?" Andy asked. "You know, no one is going to care about what you sound like, or what you say."

"What if I say a swear word?" She challenged.

Sam snapped his head to Beth. "If a swear word ever comes out of your mouth before the age of 13, there will be trouble in store for you."

"And if I ever get a boyfriend before 18 then you'll kill him?" She recited sweetly.

"Exactly." Sam nodded as he looked through the menu.

"You don't want her to have a boyfriend before 18?" Andy asked in amusement. "Really?"

"No one is touching my little girl before that." Sam defended. "Call me over protective but if some little punk comes and breaks my little girl's heart, I think he'd rather he never went out with her in the first place than having me to deal with."

Andy gave Beth a look, and Beth huffed at her father, and poked her tongue out at him.

"Being cheeky now, are we?" He asked.

Beth nodded, then turned back to her menu.

"But we're not going to talk?"

Beth shook her head, and then set down her menu. Andy looked over the top of her menu, just watching the two.

She felt like a stalker.

But they were adorable.

"Andy, what are you getting?" Sam asked while holding up his hand for the waitress.

"Pancakes." Andy smirked. "With lots of syrup and ice-cream."

"Ha!" Beth almost yelled, pointing a bony finger into Sam's chest. "I told you I wasn't the only one who likes soaked pancakes."

Sam scrunched up his nose and gave his daughter a look.

After a long, and very tiring breakfast for Sam (Andy and Beth had been bagging him about his 'plain old boring bacon and eggs') they decided to get a move on to the Zoo.

Sam really didn't know why Beth liked the Zoo so much. More than likely Renee influenced it. Like she had many things.

For example, the pancakes.

As soon as they walked in, Sam grabbed Beth's hand. She had a habit of running off on him. Although, this was the first time in 6 months that she had gone out somewhere public.

Maybe she could've changed.

To Sam's surprise, Beth didn't even try to run off. She stayed between Sam and Andy while they looked at all the animals.

She was also quiet for nearly the whole day, except for when they went to the Zebra's.

"Dad!" She squealed. She ripped her hand out of Sam's and bolted to the black and white animals. "Quick, Andrea, Daddy, look at them!" She cooed. She wanted so badly to jump over the barrier, throw all of them in her bag and take them home with her.

But...it was basically impossible.

Sam grabbed Andy's hand, and dragged her to the exhibit. A shock ran up Sam's fingertips at the warmness of Andy's hands, and he wanted to relish the feeling before it ended too soon.

He really didn't want to let go. When the two stopped behind Beth their hands were still joined. He was rubbing small circles on Andy's knuckles. He felt her body tense, and then relax and she gripped his hand tighter.

He felt like a huge douche for not telling her he was leaving, yet.

When Beth turned around, she gave the two a glare before pushing in between them, ripping their hands apart.

They both gave her a humorous chuckle.

And the end of the day, they all jumped into Sam's truck. It was almost 9:00pm and Beth was already asleep. This time, her head was lying on Andy's shoulder, and her legs were up against her chest. Andy put a comforting arm around the girl and squeezed.

"I lied about the rules." Andy whispered. She looked down at her boots.

"Rules?" Sam questioned. "What rules?"

"Remember when I said that I wasn't meant to have contact with any of my students or their parents outside of school?" She asked hoarsely. She continued before he could answer. "I lied. I can. I did it to protect myself."

"From what?"

"Getting hurt." She said. "I didn't even think of the rules until we bumped into each other at Zoe's. I just blurted it out because I was afraid that I was going to like you."

He smirked. "You liked me the day you met me?"

Andy huffed. "No." She snapped. "It was just a precaution." She mumbled.

"Precaution sma-smaution. Who cares?" He said lightly with a shrug. "If you want something, you have to do something about it, not try and run away.

If you get a chance to do something that you've wanted to do for ages but never got the chance, and then you finally get it, take it. Because the opportunity may never come up again, and if you turn it down you know you're going to want to punch yourself and regret it for not taking it."

Andy furrowed her brow. "What are you getting at?"

"I'm going undercover to take down Brennan."

**Yes. Sam's going UC. Sorry!  
But just letting you know, this story isn't going to contain much details of the UC, just mostly how Beth is dealing with being without her dad.  
There will be little tidbits of Sam missing Beth and Andy, but nothing too detailed because firstly, it wasn't really what the story was originally about, and secondly because I don't think I'd do a very good job with writing Sam in UC.  
Okay, so, let me know what you think about this chapter, please!  
And as always, thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6 - Safe

**Hey again. I know some people weren't too happy about Sam going under, but I hope this chapter explains more about why.  
Happy reading, and thanks for the reviews, as always!**

Chapter 6

As soon as Sam came back downstairs from putting Beth to bed, it started.

"Are you joking?" Andy screeched. "Your daughter, your 9-year old daughter has depression. How can you go undercover when she needs you!" Her cheeks were bright red and her hands were made into tight fists.

"You are the only person she fully trusts. You're the only person she'll talk to willingly. How can you go undercover and sabotage her trust like that!"

"Andy..." Sam started.

"No." She snapped. "No. You don't get to defend yourself. In these 7 weeks I've come to think of Beth like a daughter. I know I shouldn't because she isn't and I wouldn't dream of taking Renee's spot in Beth's life, but I'm telling you now. If you leave, there is no way she's going to be like she is now. She'll be worse than when we started."

Sam groaned. "You don't think I know that. I know she needs me. But I don't have a choice."

Andy scoffed. "Yes you do. You have a choice. You have a choice to help your daughter get better, or go undercover and run away from your life here."

"I'm not running away!" He defended. "I'm doing this to protect her and get justice for my family."

"Would Renee want you to leave Beth?" Andy questioned. "Would she seriously think it would be okay for you to go undercover and leave Beth here for how ever long you go for, without any of her family?"

Sam sighed. "Yeah. She would. Because the only reason I'm going undercover, is because I want Beth to be safe. Brennan threatened Beth when I accused him of murdering Renee. I'll do anything to make sure she stays safe."

Andy rubbed her hands on her face and sighed loudly. "She's going to go downhill if you're not here to help her, Sam."

The two stayed silent for a few minutes before Andy started talking again.

"So. How long till you go?"

"About 4 weeks." He shrugged. "But you gotta know, this wasn't an easy decision. I'll be back soon and at least then I know she's safe. I'd rather do that than always watching our backs incase he does what he did to Renee."

"I still don't think it's a good idea, Sam." Andy said. "You're going to crush her. She loves you so much, and you're leaving?"

"It's not forever, Andy. If something happens to Beth because I didn't go under, I would never forgive myself. I almost lost myself when I lost one of my girls, I wouldn't live if something happened to the only one I have left."

Finally, Andy nodded in acceptance.

"Do you mind telling me the full story?" Andy whispered. "Beth never told me much. Just that she got murdered, and Oli told me that her body was found at the Penny."

Sam raised his eyebrows. "Oliver told you that? Did he tell you anything else?

"No." She shook her head. "He told me it wasn't his place."

Sam stared into Andy's eyes for a long period of time. He didn't know if he could tell her the full story. He didn't know if he could ever tell anyone the full story. It was gruesome and painful.

Silently, he walked to Andy, grabbed her hand and guided her to the couch. When she was seated he walked into the kitchen and got a glass of water for Andy and himself, before making himself comfortable opposite her.

"It happened in August..."

**Flashback**

_"Daddy!" Beth squealed, trying to get out of her fathers grasp. Sam was holding Beth over his shoulder, tickling her sides. "Stop!" She cried, still giggling through her pleads. _

_They were walking to the Penny to have lunch before Sam started shift and Renee got back from a work conference a few hours away. She'd been away for a couple of days. He eventually put her down when they got nearer to the Penny. When she slid to the ground she ran from Sam, keeping up their little game. _

_"Come catch me!" She screamed. Her laughter could be heard even when Sam watched her run into the ally behind the Penny. _

_"Woah." Beth muttered when she got further into the ally. She saw a pile of freezer bags scattered next to the dumpster. She walked a few steps closer to see what was inside them. When she got closer the smell hit her like a punch in the face. "Ew." She groaned. _

_She held her nose and took a few more steps and tapped one of the bags with her toe, making it roll over to face her._

_What she saw was something that would always stay with her for life._

_She saw cold, bright blue eyes, on her very own beautiful mothers face. _

_But her mom was on a conference. How could that be her?_

_She stumbled backwards and leaned against the wall. Her legs were starting to become weak and her throat was closing up._

_"Beth?" Sam asked. _

_"It's mom." She fought out, and ran into Sam's arms. "Dad. It's mom. Her head is in the bag."_

_"Don't be ridiculous Beth, mom's out at a conference and she'll be back..."_

_"Look." She whimpered into his stomach. He raised an eyebrow, but looked around the dumpster and saw a pile of freezer bags._

_He already knew what had happened. Someone had been mutilated._

**End Flashback**

"Beth got the worst part of the whole thing. Seeing her mom like that..." He trailed off and shook her head.

"Why did Brennan go after her, though?" Andy asked. She was feeling sick to her stomach right about now. Imagine seeing someone you love chopped up like that.

"We don't know. We had never even heard of the guy." Sam answered. "But I'm going to get justice for my family. I know it might seem like I'm being a terrible person, but I want Beth to be safe. I couldn't live knowing that if something like what happened to Renee happened to Beth could've been prevented by me, but I said no."

All Andy could do was nod. "I understand." She whispered. "But, what about Beth? Where would she stay? She doesn't talk to anyone else..."

"She'll be staying with Zoe and Oliver. I already talked it over with them."

"Did they argue with you too?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. A bit like you did. Gave me the same warning. But...I'm going to make sure Beth's life isn't in danger, and I'll do anything to make sure she stays safe."

"She won't be the same." Andy mumbled, more to herself than Sam. "All of your hard work, and mine might be worth nothing when you leave."

"If you don't want to help Beth anymore, I understand." Sam said. "This UC is going to be a huge step in the wrong direction but..."

"No!" Andy said, she jumped up in her chair. "No. I want to help Beth. I'm going to help her."

"I don't want you to feel obligated to help her still."

"I want to, Sam." She said. It was probably the most sincere thing she had said in her life. "I really, really want to."

"Good." He said with a quick nod. "Oh my god." He whispered. "How did my life become such a mess?" He threw his head in his hands and rested his elbows on his knees. "What could I have done different?"

"Your wife got murdered, Sam. There's nothing you could've done." She watched him shake his head, then look at the clock.

It had just ticked over to 10:30pm.

"I'm going to miss Beth's 10th birthday." Sam whispered. "I'm going to miss so much."

"But it's to make her safe, remember?" Andy asked with a small smile.

"Yeah." He agreed. "I'm going to miss her so much though. I don't know how I'm going to react when I leave. And not just Beth, I don't know if I'll be able to leave yo..." He stopped himself from speaking.

Was that seriously about to pop out of his mouth? Was he about to tell Andy he wouldn't be able to leave her?

What in the freakin' hell?

Andy could tell what he wanted to say. It was what she had been thinking since he told her he was going undercover. She swiftly moved to the other side of the couch and pulled his body into hers.

She wrapped her slim arms around his neck. It took him a moment, but he finally snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her against him.

"We'll come with you." Andy said. "Yeah! Beth and I can come with you!"

"No. You're not coming, and neither is she. It's too dangerous and I'm not risking your lives just because I'll miss you two." He said into her hair. She smelt like watermelon, and he hair was as soft as silk.

How did she get it like that?

He closed his eyes to savor the moment. This beautiful woman wrapped around him, comforting him. It felt amazing.

A few seconds later, he felt her lips graze his cheek. It made him feel warm, and truly happy.

"What about us?" Andy finally asked. She pulled away from his body and played with a little bit of his hair.

Sam cleared his throat. "We'll," He tucked her bangs behind her ear. "Be absolutely fine."

She gave a small grin, and then unexpectedly crashed her lips into his.

It was short, soft, rough, tentative and sweet all at the same time.

Basically. Perfect.

And for once, Sam didn't feel guilty about wanting to move on.

When they pulled back from each other, they both had sly grins on their faces. Sam kissed Andy's forehead lovingly, before wrapping his arms back around her waist for another hug.

"Keep it G rated, Please." Beth said from the bottom of the stairs. Andy quickly pushed herself away from Sam, and to the other side of the chair as fast as humanly possible.

"Beth." Sam choked. "Why are you up?"

"Can't sleep." She shrugged.

"When did you wake up?"

She mumbled something under her breath.

"What?" He asked.

"I've been up since you put me into bed." She said, making sure not to make eye contact with her dad, or Andy.

"So...you heard this whole conversation?" He asked. "You heard everything we said since we got home."

"I was sitting at the top of the stairs." She said quietly. She moved to the couch opposite Sam and Andy and sat down. She pulled her robe tightly around her and made herself into a ball.

Andy closed her eyes, waiting for another interrogation.

"Tell me it's not true." She whispered, again, avoiding eye contact with the adults in front of her. "You're not really going, right?"

"Beth..." Sam sighed sadly. "I wouldn't go unless I thought I had to."

Beth was starting to get a burning sensation in the back of her eyes. "You don't need to." She whimpered. "You can stay here and we can still be a family."

"You don't understand. Dad needs to go to make sure you're safe."

"But I am." She argued. "When I'm with you I'm safe. I'm not going to be safe when you leave me." A lone tear made it's way down her cheek.

Sam could tell she was almost on the verge of a panic attack.

"I'll keep you safe..." Andy said lovingly.

"NO!" Beth snapped. "You kissed my dad. I told you both I wasn't ready for another mom!"

She jumped off the couch and froze. She didn't know what to do. Beth didn't know if she should hit something, or scream or cry or panic.

She really just didn't know what to do anymore.

"Why'd you kiss her and why are you leaving me?" Beth demanded. She made her way to her father and stood right in front of him, making them eye level. "Do you hate me?"

"What?" Sam exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Aren't I good enough for you anymore? Is my depression getting too much for you? Because, if it is I'll leave. I'll go and live with Uncle Oli or I'll go to Australia to stay with Aunt Sarah if you need me to." She rambled. Her breaths were quickening and her voice was becoming raspy.

"Beth." Sam soothed. "No. You're the most important thing in the world to me. I could never hate you. Ever!" He emphasized the last word. "You're my little girl and the only thing in this world that is making my life worth living. I live for you Beth and I want you to be safe." He grabbed her small hand in his and squeezed tightly.

"I am safe!" She fought.

"I want you to be extra safe. I want you to feel safe no matter what."

She nodded through her tears, but wasn't done fighting. "I'm safe. I have you and Andrea and I'm safe!"

He shook his head. "You're not, Beth. You're not as safe as I can make you. If I go, when I come back you'll be the safest girl in the world." He played with her hair.

Beth sniffled a few times before wrapping her arms around her dad's neck, enjoying the smell of his Old Spice cologne.

He pulled back and looked into her eyes. "I love you." He said. "More than anything. I won't be gone for another month, okay? Me, you and Andy are going to have so much fun before daddy has to go, okay?"

Again, all she did was nod. Then she turned her red face to Andy.

"Why'd you kiss her?" She asked her dad, still keeping her eyes on Andy. She sniffed before waiting for her father's response.

When one didn't come, she talked again. "You told me you weren't replacing mom."

"I'm not." Sam argued. "I'm not, and I never will. You're mom will always have a special place in my heart, because she gave me you.

She gave us both everything we could ever want, and need. But she's not here for that anymore, and I need to find someone who makes me happy."

Sam paused and watched Andy walk out of the living room and into the kitchen so the father and daughter could talk privately.

He lifted her off the ground and into his lap.

"You still love mom?" She asked.

"Of course." Sam assured. "I do. But I can't keep on living in the past. I need to move on."

"With Andrea?"

"With you." He kissed her head. "And Andrea."

"After you come back from keeping me safe?"

"After I come back from keeping you safe." He repeated

**There we are!**

** Please review.  
I don't know if people are still interested in this story anymore, so please let me know if you are.  
**

** Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry I didn't update as quickly as usual. I was pretty busy of Easter and didn't have that much time, but here it is.  
I know some of you think Sam going UC is a mistake, and I personally think that in a way it's bad to leave your child behind, but who else is going to go and take down Brennan? He'd rather Beth be safe, and then help her after he knows nothing bad will happen to her.**

**Again, thanks for the reviews and let me know what you think.**

**Chapter 7**

"How are you dealing with the news?" Andy asked.

It was the Monday after Beth had found out about Sam going under. Andy left the two of them alone on Sunday to discuss everything they needed to. And she was extremely curious to find out how that went.

"What news?" She asked lightly. Obviously acting like she didn't have a clue about anything.

"Don't be silly, Beth. You know what news."

She looked Andy in the eye. "I'm angry that my dad is leaving me. And I'm angry that he's going to miss my birthday and that you're his new girlfriend."

Andy raised an eyebrow. Girlfriend?

"He told me that he just wants to keep me and you safe."

"He does." Andy agreed. "He wants to keep you safe, and to do that he has to go."

"It doesn't mean I like it." Beth claimed. "He doesn't even know when he'll be back!" She exclaimed. "How is that fair?"

"I don't know." Andy shrugged. "And I've only known you guys for...what? 8 weeks? And yet I know that he wouldn't leave you unless he had to. When you and your dad first came in and we talked, I could already tell that he would do anything to make you better. And he's been doing that. He has. And so have I, because I promised your dad that I'll make you better."

"But I won't get better if he leaves!" She argued. Punching her small fists on the couch cushions.

"You need to try." Andy said, her voice starting to get stern. "You need to try and do this without your dad."

"I don't know if I can." Beth whispered.

Andy sighed loudly and leant forward on her chair. "You can do it without your dad."

"I can't do anything without my dad." Beth said sadly, feeling defeated. Andy sat up straight and stared at Beth.

"You started talking to me all on your own. That's something that could've taken a lot of work. You've opened up to me without having your dad next to you encouraging you to talk to me."

Beth shook her head and closed her eyes. "That's because I like and trust you. You and dad are the only people I trust. I don't trust Aunt Zoe and Uncle Oli."

Andy shrugged. "You have to stay with them, even if you don't trust them."

"It's stupid and unfair."

"It is." Andy said with a small chuckle. She still couldn't believe Sam was leaving Beth like that. She knew that Beth was going to go back to her old ways, whispering in front of everyone and doing nearly everything she could to make sure she had as little contact with anyone as possible.

It made Andy pissed off.

"I hate having blue eyes." Beth said out of no-where. She looked up at Andy. "I wish I had dad's eyes."

Andy looked at her confused.

"Reminds me of my mom's." She shrugged. "Reminds me of when I saw her...all...chopped up."

Andy waited for her to continue.

"There were so many freezer bags." She whispered. "And it smelt so bad and it was scary and gross and..." Her voice cracked. "and it was terrifying."

Beth's eyes started to water and her bottom lip trembled. "I know dad's going to go away so he can keep me safe from the man who did that to my mom. But what if it happens to my dad too?" She was starting to yell, angry tears falling from her eyes.

"You can't think like that." Andy said. "You can't live thinking that your dad's going to get hurt. You need to focus on getting better. You want to make your dad happy?" Andy asked.

Beth nodded. "I owe it to him for helping me get better."

"Then focus on getting better. Start talking, start being more social. Make more friends. Because _nothing_ is going to make your dad happier than him coming home to see that his little girl is happy and healthy again."

Andy watched Beth have an inner debate, before looking at Andy and giving a small, fast, tight nod.

"Good." Andy said. "Good."

"How though?" Beth whined. "I don't have any friends anymore, and I don't go to a proper school so I can't get friends here."

"What about the Shaw girls."

Beth groaned and shook her head. "Ugh, no. They're nice and all, but they're too...girly. They like nail polish...Make up and lip gloss...ew. No. Just...No."

She shivered and stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"You're a lot like your dad." Andy chuckled. "But what about Izzy? I mean. You and her were born in the same yeah, right around the same time? Surely yours and her parents wanted you two to be best friends and all."

"We were for a while. But...then she liked girly stuff and I didn't. Mom was more into the make up and stuff, where dad like sports."

"That was a bit like me and my dad. My mom was never in the picture so I never really got into the girly stuff, as much as I kind of wanted to when I was little, but he convinced me to like sport." She laughed at the memories. Of her, Luke, Pat and her dad running around the backyard playing basketball with their half broken basketball ring.

On more than one occasion the boys would accidently trip her over, but with her competitiveness, she didn't complain, got straight up and beat them all.

The memories made her miss her dad, a lot.

"Tell me more about your dad." Beth said. "You told me he died."

"Therapy is meant to be for you Beth, not for me."

Beth made a pout, and once she saw that Andy wasn't going to give in, she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Will we still be able to hang out while dads away? Like...do you think he'll mind If I hang out with you more than Aunt Zoe and Uncle Oli?"

Andy really, really hoped Beth would actually spend time with her.

Mostly, she hoped Sam wouldn't mind.

* * *

Beth was showering while Andy and Sam were preparing dinner downstairs. They were moving around the kitchen quietly, making sure none of them uttered words. Sam asked her to come over.

He really did want to spend as much time with Beth and Andy as he could before he left.

He also made it extremely clear to Boyd that he was having the _full_four weeks before his UC. No less.

He would actually kill Don if it turned out he had to go under any earlier.

Suddenly, Andy was behind Sam, wrapping her arms around his waist. Sam tensed, and then relaxed when the newly familiar feeling of warmth spread through his body.

"I'm going to miss you." Andy whispered. "A lot more than you think. And it's probably inappropriate that I'm actually going to miss you that much this early into our..." She stopped and thought. "Thing," She settled on. "But I'm really, really going to miss you."

Sam turned around in Andy's arms and placed his lips on hers, lightly, not wanting to make it anything more until he got home, until he finally got closure about his wife.

"I'm going to miss you too." He whispered against her mouth. He caressed her face, tracing her jawline with his strong hands.

Andy bit her lip, and giggled.

"Ugh. Whenever I come down stairs I don't want to see you two like that." Beth spat. Slowly and reluctantly, the two let go of each other.

Once all the food and drinks were served, the three sat down together and ate.

"Are you guys dating? Like, full on going out and hugging and kissing and sleeping in each others beds?" Sam literally spat out his mouthful of soda, getting half on him and half on Andy.

He hit his chest a few times while he coughed in attempt to get air to his lungs. Andy didn't even attempt to get the soda off of herself; she just stared at the girl in front of her.

"Well...?"

"Nothing's going to happen until your dad comes back." Andy finally decided on.

"Maybe then I'll be ready." Beth said with a small nod. She was thinking about her dad's happiness, like Andy had told her to. She wanted to get better so her dad could be happy, and she'd do whatever she could to make sure it happened.

* * *

The next 4 weeks flew by in a flash. Way too quickly for Sam.

And he was leaving in 10 hours.

He was regretting it terribly. The past 4 weeks had been amazing. A whole week spent with just him and Beth, and the rest spent with Andy as well.

They stayed in most nights, being lazy, eating junk and watching crappy movies. Beth continued going to school, and he still kept going to work.

Oliver and Frank were the only ones at 15 that knew he was going, so he still had to attend work as usual, as much as he didn't want to.

He wanted to stay until next week, just until Beth's birthday passed, but he knew that it wasn't possible, no matter how much he begged Boyd.

Right now, the three of them were on the couch. Beth in his lap and Andy on the other side of the couch. They made sure they weren't touching, just a precaution.

Although he had his girl close, and Andy by his side, it still didn't drown out the feeling of sadness in the pit of his stomach. He would be leaving them for...at least 4 months, is what Boyd said.

So...there was a chance that he wouldn't be with Beth when the first year anniversary of Renee's death came by.

When he figured that out, it was like a punch to the gut. He almost felt like going to Boyd and Brennan, and ripping out their intestines and choking them with it.

It sounded gross, but...It's what he felt at the time.

That night he came home and made sure he and Beth were near each other until they both fell asleep on the couch. The need to be close to her was becoming painful.

And now he was, but the pain was still there.

He looked to the bottom of the stairs and saw Beth's bags piled next to his one duffel. Making the sadness grow stronger.

His need to pull out of the UC was infuriating in a way. He wants to get closure and he wants Beth, and Andy to be safe from Brennan. But all the stuff he was leaving behind...

Lets just say he was pissed.

But he wasn't going to pull out because he made a promise to Beth. And that was to keep her safe, and he'd do anything he needed to do to ensure that happened.

He was brought out of his trance when Beth tugged at his sleeve. He looked down at his daughter and saw her teary eyes. He really felt like a dick now.

"Andrea said she has to go now." Beth said, looking toward Andy who was walking around the living room, gathering her things.

"Yeah." Andy said. "I need to go home. You know. I have work in the morning and you better sleep so you can go to...wherever." She waved her hands around, but also made sure she didn't let Sam see her face.

From her voice he could tell she was on the verge of tears. Sam stood and turned off the TV while telling Beth to go and get ready for bed. They both had to be up early in the morning.

Sam watched her until he couldn't see her anymore. He walked up the stairs and checked the top, to make sure she wasn't sitting there about to listen to their conversation, much like she did 4 weeks ago.

When he was sure she wasn't there, he rushed back downstairs and immediately wrapped his arms around Andy, stopping her from any movement.

He felt her body tremble. She was crying.

But it was silent, ugly crying. Although Sam doubted that she could ever be ugly.

"I'll be back." He mumbled into her ear. "I'll be back. Then we can start."

"Will you be ready to start?" She whimpered, smothering her face into his chest.

He smiled faintly. "I really think I will."

"I understand if you're not. If you still want to wait when you get back I understand."

He shook his head against hers. "I think I'll be ready."

"I know..." Andy cleared her throat. "I know that this thing we're doing hasn't been going on for long but...I'm serious about it. And...I'll wait for you to come home."

"I want you to wait." He whispered. "I need you to wait."

She nodded. "I will. I promise."

Andy pulled back a little, and then crashed her lips against his. This time it wasn't as innocent as usual.

It was filled with passion and lust and...just everything perfect in the world all bunched into one kiss.

A few tears rolled down Andy's cheeks, landing on Sam's as they neared their lips. She wiped them away.

Stepping back. She took a large breath and wiped a hand over her face.

"I want you to know that I trust you with Beth." Sam said. "I want you two to still hang out while I'm gone. You know, go places outside of school and all that."

"I want us to, as well." Andy agreed. "She's an amazing little girl." She complemented with a small smile.

"She is." He said with a nod. "She's my world."

Another tear rolled down Andy's cheek. Again, she wrapped her arms around Sam and held him as tight as she could, before the need to breath became too strong.

"I'll see ya later, Sam. Please come home." She said with a high pitch, her voice slowly cracking.

"Bye." He said.

Andy took a large breath, before picking up her bag, putting on her boots and walking out of the Swarek's house.

Sam felt like an idiot.

'Bye?'

What type of last words were they? He wasn't going to see that amazing women for months and his last word was bye?

Not even a thank your for looking after Beth. Or, I can't wait to come home to you. Not a stay safe? Or I can't wait for us to finally start.

He groaned loudly and walked out the front door, not bothering to put on something warmer. Not even a coat. He just needed to make sure he talked to her.

"Andy!" He screamed before she could jump into her car. He could see her wiping tears from her eyes. "Hey, Andy! Hold up a sec." He panted, running to the end of the driveway.

"Sam?" She questioned.

"I just wanted to say...Thank you for looking after Beth, and helping her and helping me too. Thank you for letting me take my time moving on, and waiting for me to come home." He held onto her elbows. "And I really can't wait for us to start."

Andy bawled her eyes out for 10 minutes before she finally let go of Sam. She wasn't expecting that one bit.

When he got back inside, he walked upstairs to find Beth in his bed, snuggled up on her side.

"How was Andrea?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

He rubbed his jaw. "Emotional." He said with a shake of his head. "She cried for a bit."

"I couldn't hear her." She mentioned.

"I don't think she wanted you to." He chuckled, walking into his bathroom to get changed. When he came back to the room, he turned off his light and jumped in next to Beth.

They were silent for a few minutes, not making any contact before Beth slid over to jump into her father's arms.

"I'll be better when you get back."

"You don't have to be."

"But it'll make you happy." She said. "I want you to be happy too."

Sam shook his head, but turned on his side to pull her closer into his chest, rubbing soothing circles on her back. He looked into her eyes.

The piercing blue ones that he had always been in love with. He searched her face, and again tried to find traces of Renee.

Which as always was easy to do.

He was going to get closure soon, and to say he was happy was an understatement.

"I'm going to miss you so much." She caved, letting her tears fall down her cheeks and a sob ripped from her throat. She smothered her face in his neck and let the tears fall freely from her eyes.

"I know." He said, his voice cracking. He placed a hand at the back of her head, keeping her close to his body. "I'm going to miss you too." He let tears form in his eyes, but closed them before any could fall.

"I love you so much daddy. I'm sorry for making you sad all the time. I'm sorry I was depressed and anti social because that meant you weren't allowed out either and you always had to stay with me because if you didn't I'd have an attack and it was never fair on you and I'm just..."

"Beth..."

"So sorry because I was never fair to you and..."

"Beth..."

"now you're going away for ages and I won't see you anymore..."

"Bethany!" Sam growled. Beth immediately stopped at the use of her full name. "Stop it. Okay? Just stop. No, I didn't go out anywhere, but I didn't expect you to get over what you saw just like that." He snapped his fingers together. "And no matter what, I'll be here to help you. So if you're sad, then I am. Because you're my world, and nothing will ever change that."

Beth's tears were coming harder, making large patches of tears stain his shirt. But he didn't care a bit.

She nodded vigorously and wrapped her arms tighter around her father.

"And I love you so much, and I promise you I'll be home as soon as possible. Then everything will be okay."

* * *

Sam and Beth woke at 6:00am to make sure that Beth would be dropped off at Oliver's on time, and he would be home by 8:00am for Boyd to pick him up.

Neither of them touched their breakfast, or really talked until they got to the Shaw's.

When they did though, it was a riot.

Beth was trying to give herself a pep talk. Saying she'd keep her tears in and she wouldn't cry...but it didn't work.

When they stepped out of the car and put all of Beth's bags into the guest room, she cried.

"I don't want you to go." She whimpered. Sam closed his eyes and willed himself not to cry either. "I'll miss you too much."

Sam picked her up and cradled her to his chest. "I'll be back before you know it."

"Please don't leave me alone." She pleaded. "Don't die while you're there." She deadpanned.

"I won't."

It wasn't realistic. He shouldn't promise that he'd come home, but if she needed to hear it, he'd say it.

He looked at his watch and realised it was 7:30am.

He needed to leave.

"I have to go now, okay?" He asked. She nodded, put still clung onto his body. He sighed. "You need to let go, sweetheart." He soothed. "You need to let daddy go."

But she wouldn't. She wouldn't let her hands rip apart. She needed him to stay. "I'm scared." She whispered in his ear, before a sob left her body.

Oliver watched Sam struggle, so he walked up behind Beth and grabbed her from under the arms. "Beth. Come on darlin', we need to let dad go so he can catch the bad guys."

As Oliver pulled her, she started to sob harder and harder.

"Dad." She whispered. "Don't die."

Sam had never felt the need to cry more in his life.

Not even when his wife died.

The look on Beth's face made him weak in the knees. It was red, raw and blotchy. Her body lip was trembling and her eyes were red rimmed.

"I love you Beth." He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, let his lips linger on her head before he inhaled her scent one last time, and walked back to his truck.

He didn't dare look back at his daughter, otherwise he knew he'd call Boyd and tell him he was staying.

But just hearing her sob made his heart break.

This was going to be a terrible, terrible experience.

**There we are again.  
I know some of you are going to think Sam's an ass for leaving Beth and all that, but...It's just how the story goes.  
And you all know why he's going. But I'm just letting you know now, that the experience with Sam being undercover isn't as bad as it might seem, so please continue to read!  
Let me know what you think, and I'm hoping to get the next chapter up extra quick, but if it doesn't end up happening, then it won't be too long to wait.  
Thanks for reading! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Please read: I'm sorry if I didn't make it clear in the earlier chapters, but this isn't a proper UC. Sam just has to change his name as a precaution, and he's going to Vancouver to gather evidence with people who used to work with Brennan.**

**Thanks for all the support, means heaps to me! **

**So I did end up getting it up quicker than I intended. Here's the next chapter, surprised I got it all posted within 24 hours.**

**Let me know what you think, please! (But if you're going to say something bad about Sam going under, please don't.)**

**Chapter 8**

He had been in Vancouver for a week, and tomorrow was his first day meeting his new 'friends'.

Don had told him on his way to the airport that they all already knew he was a cop and that he wanted to put Brennan away. He'd also told him that the guys were worried that Sam was going to call them out on their old lives...so that was something he had to not do.

He was afraid that the guys were going to be pricks or something, or that they'd maybe make it hard for him to find evidence that stated Brennan had really committed all the murders that they believed he did.

He really hoped he found the evidence.

All the guys that he was going to work with worked with Brennan previously. And that's about all he knew about the guys as well.

So...

It wasn't a very good feeling knowing he was about to walk into a room with retired criminals. But he did accept the UC. Which in a way, he was regretting.

He missed Beth and Andy as soon as he jumped into Boyd's car. But his determination made it bearable.

He walked down one of the poorer streets of Vancouver, and walked into an abandoned building, one that Boyd had picked out for them. He did a real good job at being stingy.

It was 5 stories high, with dirty bricks and broken windows.

He really did do a good job.

Sam looked behind him, even though he knew that it was basically impossible for Brennan to be near him, he did anyway. He opened the double doors, listening to them creek and watching dust fly around the foyer.

Looking at the small piece of paper in his hand, Sam read the directions. He looked at the elevator on his right, then to his left and looked at the stairs.

He really didn't know which one to trust. They both looked dodgy and unstable.

Which they probably were.

Taking a large breath, he went to the left and walked up the flight of stairs. When he reached the 3rd floor, he walked to the end of the hallway and entered a large, rundown conference room.

He made his way to the table in the middle where 2 guys sat.

One was short and skinny. He had short blonde hair and tanned skin. Sam could see a few tattoo's peeking out from under his shirt. A larger tattoo was what stood out to Sam. It was a large red love-heart with the initials K.D. printed inside.

Another man was tall and muscular. A little bit like Sam. He was bald and wore a suit.

That guy really didn't look like he was in the life. And Sam was really grateful for that.

"Hey." Sam said nervously. Both men shot around in their chairs and eyed Sam.

"You're Marty?" The tall one asked. His voice was low and gruff. It was almost intimidating. "The cop?"

Sam swallowed and nodded. "Yeah."

"Of course he's Marty, didn't you listen to a word Donavon said on the phone?" The blonde asked, his voice was high pitched and annoying. Sam could tell that he was going to hate being around the guy.

"What did Don say, Pipsqueak?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow. Boyd didn't say anything to him.

He glared at Sam, and then cleared his throat. "He told us that the other guy was coming a few hours late because he had to do a double shift at work or something like that."

Sam nodded, then sat down on the other side of the two men. "Well. I'm Marty...What's your names?"

The tall one scratched his bald head and chuckled. "The names James. That one over there is Laurie." He tilted his chin toward the little one, who was hitting his hands on the table, trying to make a beat. Something he was failing miserably at.

"Stop." Sam snapped. The kid raised his hands, then leant back on his chair and mumbled words to himself.

He reminded Sam of Beth. And she was 9. This kid was what...23?

"My name's Laurie." He started. He stood up and walked around the table. The kid was a total douche. "I was in 'cahoots' with Jamie Brennan when I was 15. He got me sellin' drugs for him. I was with him for about 3 years before I decided to leave. A few days later my mom was murdered."

Sam started to feel bad now. But the kid was still full of himself.

"I worked with Brennan for about 2 years." James said. "Nothing too bad. Dealing drugs, going to shipments and crap like that. I wanted to leave because my girlfriend told me she was pregnant. The same day I left I found her dead in the bathtub."

"Did you two ever work at the same time?" Sam asked them.

"I saw him around, never talked to him though. He was a kid. Brennan basically told me not to go near him." James said with a small laugh.

"It wasn't like I was poisonous or anything." Laurie grumbled. "So, Marty. What's a handsome man like you doing here?" Sam's eyes widened. "I never thought a cop would've been involved with a man like Jamie Brennan in his past."

"I wasn't even involved with him!" Sam barked. "Yet my wife got murdered." Sam said, getting real pissed off. "I mean. You guys were all involved with him, even the guy that isn't here yet was involved with him, and yet my wife got murdered. I didn't even know the guy until she was killed."

Sam felt like ripping up the folder full of notes and papers sitting in front of him. "When my wife was killed Brennan was hanging around the Black Penny. No one from 15 division heard of the guy before her murder. I had a conversation with him once while we were at the pub, and he told me all this crazy stuff that I never knew about my wife, yet he did." He shook his head.

"He's a weird one." James commented.

Sam agreed. "He was weird. After that I tried to gather evidence but I couldn't find anything."

"Either could we." Laurie said. "Of course it was him! He was a criminal, yet they had no evidence of it. I told the cops and they brought him in, but they never could find any evidence. After that I gave up."

Sam took a large, long, loud breath. "We'll figure it out." Sam said.

* * *

"Beth. Eat." Andy said, pointing to the lunch that Zoe and Oliver had packed her. "I don't want to come over tonight and tell them that you haven't eaten all day."

"Nooo!" Beth whined. "It tastes weird. They don't make sandwiches like dad does."

"Just eat it." She warned with raised eyebrows. Beth ripped off the glad wrap and threw it into the bin, getting the shot perfectly. She dug her teeth into the bread, and ripped of a bit, chewing way faster and harder than necessary.

"Don't act like that." Andy sighed. "Just quickly eat it so we can finish off class and get you home."

"It's not home." Beth snapped. "It's Aunt Zoe's and Uncle Oli's. My home is where my dad and me live. No where else."

"I know." Andy nodded. "Sorry."

Beth sighed and jumped off her chair, and like she did on more than one occasion, she walked around Andy's office and looked at the pictures she had just put up on her wall.

Beth loved the photo's. Only two of them were of people, the rest were awesome photos of leaves and rainbows and all that type of stuff. The ones of sunsets and oceans that made you feel peaceful were her favourites.

The ones with people interested her though.

One of them had 5 people in the photo; a young girl who she assumed was Andy, and an older woman was seated at the front in the middle. Three males stood behind them. Two younger boys stood at either side of a taller man.

The photos were professionally done, and it was a really, really nice photo. She never asked Andy about them though, thought maybe it was too personal.

The other picture was a portrait of Andy. She was making a really goofy face, and it showed her personality perfectly.

She would've been maybe, 21 years old, going through college. So it was only taken 8 years ago...

She pretty much looked the same.

"I know you want to ask me questions about the people. You can, you know." Andy said, pointing at the photo.

"Who are they?"

"The two guys are my step brothers, the guy in the middle was my dad. The lady next to me was my step mom and the little one is me."

Beth scrunched up her eyebrows and pursed her lips. "Where's your real mom?"

Andy bit her bottom lip. "She died when she gave birth to me, so I never knew her."

"Oh wow." Beth whispered. She shook her head and coughed once. "I really shouldn't have brought it up."

"Its fine." Andy chuckled. "I bring up your mom all the time. This is the first time in almost 3 months that you've even asked about her."

Beth shrugged. "I never thought it was any of my business."

"Ask me all the questions you want." Andy said honestly.

She thought it was fair. This little girl was going to be in her future...hopefully. She wanted Beth and Sam in her future. She wanted Beth to be the big sister of hers and Sam's kids, and she wanted Beth to be like a daughter to her.

She was the most amazing little girl in the world. She was strong, and determined to get better, and she really didn't know what to do to praise this girl as much as she should be.

"Do you love my dad?" Andy's eyes widened and her breathing stopped. Air basically refused to pass her throat. Love?

Love. Seriously. Andy hadn't loved anyone...ever.

Yeah, she had boyfriends in highschool and she said she loved them, but she never really did. She cared for them and had feelings for them, but love...No. It was never an element in her relationships.

"Uh..."

"It's okay if you don't. I mean, I understand that love and stuff takes time. When my mom used to tell me the stories of her and dad when they were younger, she told me it took her a while to love daddy."

Andy nodded and finally let air into her lungs. "I care for your dad, a lot. I mean...I see a future with you guys."

"Good." Beth said with a smile. "I hope you and dad are happy together when he get's back."

She threw the last of her sandwich in her mouth and swallowed with a pained expression. "I want dad's sandwiches." She muttered.

Andy chuckled and threw a smile Beth's way.

"So how is it at the Shaw's?"

Beth puffed, making her bangs fly off her face for a second. "Fine. They're nice and all. But...tomorrow's my birthday and I don't want to be with them. I wanna be at home with you and dad."

Andy looked at Beth sadly. "Luckily, I already asked Aunt Zoe and Uncle Oli if you and I could spend the day together. You know, if you wanted to. You don't have to or anything." She said quickly.

Andy already knew the day was going to be emotional for Beth. This was going to be her first birthday since her mother left.

Beth let a tear fall, before walking over to Andy and falling onto her lap. She wrapped her arms around her, and wept.

"I really, really want my dad."

* * *

"Hey everyone. Sorry I'm late." The fourth man said. He rushed into the room with a bottle of water in his hands. He was wearing sweat pants and a plain white t-shirt. His hair was a bit of a mess and he looked tired. His glasses were sitting lightly on his nose and he had little facial hair. "When I got home from work my son had to be dropped off at a friends house so..."

"Buddy." Sam interrupted. "It's alright. I totally understand what its like." He said with a small chuckle.

"I'm Corey." He put his hand out to each guy for a shake. Once introductions were done, he sat down and sighed. "How long have you guys been here for?"

"We've been sitting here for about 4 hours waiting for you, man." Laurie whined. "I've gotta get back home soon guys, my girlfriends gotta go out and I have to look after my dog."

"You knew we were gonna be here all day. Why didn't you bring your dog?" James asked.

"Why don't you shut up?" Laurie mumbled, throwing a glare James' way.

Corey eyed the two men, then gave Sam a look. "You've been dealing with them two all day?"

Sam nodded with a sarcastic smile. "Unfortunately. But hey, when you hear them argue for hours at a time, it starts to humour you."

"Tell us about yourself Corey." James said. Mostly because he wanted Laurie to shut up.

"Well. I'm 37. Single dad, I work at..."

"No. I mean. Why are you here? What did Brennan do to you?" He deadpanned.

"Oh...right." He said, a light tinge of red covering his cheeks. "I stopped working with him about...10, 11 months ago." He said with his eyes closed, trying to remember. "It was around then anyway. Before that I worked with him only for a few months. When I told him I wanted to leave, before I even fully left he murdered my wife and daughter."

Sam felt like he'd been kicked in the gut.

This guy lost his wife, and so did Sam, but he could never imagine what it would've been like if he lost Beth too. Tears were starting to form in his eyes, but he was not prepared to show his vulnerability to these guys, one's he'd just met.

"I was only working for him for extra cash. I found out my wife got the sack, and I wanted to make sure I provided for them."

"That really blows." Sam whispered. "I can't even imagine what it was like for you."

Corey nodded his thanks, not trusting himself to form proper words without his voice cracking.

The men stayed silent, before Sam ripped open his folder and spread out the pictures and notes he had inside. He looked around and realised he was the only one who had stuff on him.

"What's all that?" Laurie squeaked.

"This..." He sighed. "Is all the notes and pictures I have of my wife's murder. Here's the notes. It's all the stuff that made me believe Brennan did it." He handed a piece of paper to Corey. "Here's a picture of the crime scene, and here's a picture of my wife." He handed one picture to James, then the other to Laurie.

"You're wife was really, really beautiful." James commented. He handed the picture on to Laurie, then grabbed the notes off Corey. Corey grabbed the picture of Renee's 'Body' and cringed.

"That's terrible, man." He said under his breath, a pained expression in his eyes. He grabbed the last photo and his eyes widened. "Dude..."

"What?" Sam said, standing up and walking around to Corey.

"Holy shit..."

"Corey!" Sam barked. "What is it?"

"Are you sure this is your wife?" He asked lightly, adjusting his glasses and squinting at the photo.

Sam eyed the guy and scoffed. "I'm pretty sure I know who my own friggin' wife is, jackass!"

"No, no, no, no. I'm not doubting you, it's just..." He cleared his throat. "How long were you guys married for?"

"10 years. Last year was our 10th year wedding anniversary. Corey, what the hell aren't you telling me?" He demanded, smashing a fist onto the table.

Corey jumped. Sam could be really, really scary. "This lady." He pointed to the picture. "Her name was Lisa. She told me her name was Lisa. She would only come out to Saskatchewan, like once every 2 months."

"Her name's Renee." He advised with raised eyebrows. "And she used to go to Conferences for work. She was an accountant." Sam said, not understanding what Corey was saying.

"She was always really happy." He said."You know, she'd have this really big smile on her face and she'd always be laughing every second." He looked toward Sam, who looked like he was about to faint.

Or die.

"She was always hanging off his arm and kissing Brennan and stuff. They were always hugging and all over each other every time I saw them."

Sam shook his head, willing this day to be a dream. Willing it all to be a dream. He wanted to go back to the morning she was leaving for her conference and tell her to stay behind. He wanted to take it all back.

Corey looked at Sam sadly and shifter uncomfortably in his chair. "She was Jamie's girlfriend."

Sam fell into the chair next to Corey, breathless.

**There you have it.**

**Thank you for reading, and review please!**

**(Remember I don't need people telling me Sam going under is a mistake. It's done now.)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Bit of a shocker?**

**Haha, thanks for the reviews for chapter 8. Surprise. :P**

**As always, thank you for reading and tell me what you think! **

**Chapter 9**

As soon as Sam was strong enough to walk, he grabbed his notes and photos and barged out of the building and stomped back to his apartment. Sam didn't even notice the looks people were giving him. He was blubbering gibberish, curse words making their appearance every few seconds.

When he reached his door, he ripped it open and slammed it closed.

He put his back to the door and slid down until his butt was on the floorboards. He tugged his knees up to his chest and rested his for head on them, all the while shaking his head, still willing it to be a dream.

Renee was cheating on him? Renee was actually in a _relationship_ with _Jamie Brennan_ while she had a _husband _and _daughter_ waiting at home.

What the hell?

He started elbowing the door as hard as he could. His teeth clenched and his face turning bright red.

This person that he loved with everything he had, this person who he absolutely adored was cheating on him.

He couldn't wrap his head around it. But the rage wouldn't go away. Soon, he was up on his feet and power walking to the bedside table. He grabbed the closest thing, which happened to be a lamp, and threw it across the room, making it shatter against one of the cream walls.

He ran his hands through his hair and pulled at it, needing to feel something other than what he was feeling now.

Like shit.

Little beads of sweat were appearing on his forehead.

But he wasn't done.

Sam was in the kitchen in 3 seconds, pulling out plates and cups from the cupboards and chucking them across the room, leaving the echo of the smash lingering throughout his tiny apartment.

He picked up the last cup, before falling to his knees. His breathing was becoming quickened and he started panting.

He was on the verge of a panic attack.

Suddenly, trying to remember the procedure to help Beth's panic attacks was hard to do. He had done it on more than one occasion, yet right now it was hard for him to think of anything other than the betrayal.

He felt like crap, to be honest.

Breathing wasn't even a thought.

He messily got up off the floor and grabbed the folder lying on the floor near the door. Sam looked at Renee's picture.

The smiling face and piercing blue eyes and pearly white teeth were now something that made his heart hurt. Her perfectness was heartbreaking, and Sam finally let the lingering, hot tears make tracks down his cheeks.

He forcefully ripped the photo in to bits, screaming curse words with every tear, before letting all the pieces float to the ground.

Sam made his way through the dim apartment, and fell onto his bed.

He wanted out.

He wanted home.

He wanted his little girl to be in his arms so she could take away his pain with just a smile.

And he wanted Andy.

But neither of those things were an option now. He was stuck here until he took Brennan down.

Part of him wanted to pack up and fly to Toronto, go back to the Alpine and murder Jamie Brennan.

It could work...but he'd be in jail for the rest of his life.

He wondered if Jamie was still in Toronto anyway. Corey said he was in Saskatchewan when he had worked for him.

He quickly sat up, ripped open the door once again and closed it, making sure it was locked before he barged back out of the building. He sprinted back to where the meeting took place and saw the three of them about to leave.

"Corey!" Sam yelled breathlessly.

Corey turned around, and his face visibly paled when he saw Sam running toward him. "Marty..."

"Corey. Hey man. I was wondering if we could talk more about Renee." Sam asked.

Corey dropped his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "Look man..."

"Buddy." Sam interrupted. "This woman who I was with for 15 years was cheating on me. I don't even know how long she was doing it for, or why she did it. But she had a husband and daughter while she was out with Brennan."

Corey dropped his hand. Sam knew that mentioning Beth might make Corey change his mind. It was a low blow, seeing as Corey lost his daughter, but Sam really wanted answers.

"Please just let me ask you a few more questions."

Corey turned his head back around to look at Laurie and James, who were getting into their on vehicles and beginning to leave. He sighed before he turned back to Sam and gave a stiff nod.

Sam sighed with relief, and if he knew the guy better he'd grab him and wrap his arms tightly around him. But this guy was a stranger and Sam wanted to seem manly.

"We'll sit in my car?" Corey asked, pointing toward the white Camry sitting on the nature strip. He unlocked the doors and both men slid in.

Corey looked like he was uncomfortable. He was avoiding eye contact with Sam very chance he got.

Made him look sketchy.

"I don't want to know a lot." Sam started. "Actually..." He breathed. "I want to know everything. I want to know how long they were together and why they were together and..."

"Marty. I don't know a whole lot, alright?" Corey sighed. "All I know was that her name was Lisa and that she was Brennan's girlfriend."

Sam groaned. "You already told me that." He snapped. "What else do you know? Did she ever look scared or uncomfortable?"

Corey shook his head. "She never did. She always looked really, really happy." He puffed out some air, then closed his eyes to try and remember anything. "I never saw her with a ring on her finger."

Sam felt sick.

"Yeah, she didn't wear any jewelry. Uh..."

"Anything." Sam said. "Just give me anything."

"Marty I don't remember that much."

Sam watched Corey closely. His hands were fidgeting; he wouldn't dare look at Sam.

He was lying.

"Cut the bullshit." Sam snapped. "I know you know something, man. What the hell do you know?"

Finally, Corey let his eyes set on Sam's. "Fine. I know that they were in love. That Jamie talked to me non-stop about her. I know that he knew she had a family. She told him everything about the family, okay?

Jamie knew your name, and your daughters name. He never told me though, didn't want me to go and tell you that his wife had been cheating on you for 5 years."

"5 years?" Sam asked in a whisper. He no doubt looked like death right now. Tears were forming in his eyes and his body was sagged down in his seat. His vulnerability was breaking through his strong facade, and he was done.

Defeated.

Heartbroken.

Just done.

* * *

"Andy's here!" Oliver screamed from the kitchen. Beth picked up her bag and raced down the stairs, not even worrying about if she was going to fall or not. Her dimpled smile made an appearance when she saw Andy standing at the front door.

"Hey Beth. You ready?"

Beth nodded eagerly. "By Aunt Zoe and Uncle Oli." She said in her sweetest, most innocent voice. She gave both of them a quick hug, then legged it to Andy's car.

Andy stood at the door of the Shaw's with an eyebrow raised. "Is she alright?" She asked with a chuckle.

Zoe nodded. "Yeah. She's fine. She's just been really excited for tonight." She looked at the little Swarek sitting in Andy's car. "This is the first time I've seen her smile in a really long time, Andy. You're doing such an amazing job with her."

Andy looked at her sister-in-law with teary eyes. "Thanks Zo." She said sincerely. "She's amazing and such a sweet heart. Her and Sam are the best part of my life now."

Oliver walked into the foyer and added a few words. "And you're the best part of theirs. On more than one occasion Sam managed to find a way to bring up your name in any conversation we had."

Zoe chuckled and then looked at her younger sister, who seemed to have doubt in her eyes. "It's hard for them. They lost someone so close to them in a terrible way." She looked back at Beth. "Everyone loved Renee and it might seem like you're competing against her, but you're not."

Andy raised an eyebrow, then looked at Oliver. "Elaborate please?" She asked.

"You and Renee are really different." Zoe said. "And yet, Sam seems to have feelings for you too. I know you Andy. You have the need to impress everyone, but with these two, you're being yourself and they love you for that."

Andy's doe eyes shot open. "I wouldn't say love Zo..."

"It's not like the love they had for Renee, but they love you in a totally different way, a way that could potentially be greater than the love they have for Renee."

Oliver looked at Andy, and nodded with a small smile.

Suddenly a horn tooted, and they all looked at the soon to be 10 year old signaling for Andy to move it.

"I'll bring her back tomorrow night." Andy promised. She gave Zoe and Oliver a quick kiss, then ran out to her car.

"Took you long enough, Andy." Beth grumbled, pulling on her seatbelt.

Andy perked up in her chair and suddenly got the largest grin on her face. "You called me Andy." She teased.

Beth's eyes widened. "Sorry. I didn't meant to. It's just that dad and the Shaw's all call you Andy and I'm just used to hearing it..."

"Beth!" Andy laughed. "It's okay for you to call me Andy. I want you to call me Andy."

Beth let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god." She said with a nervous laugh. "I thought you were going to get angry at me or something. You know because you're my teacher and everything..."

"Relax." Andy said simply with a shrug.

Quietly, she pulled out of the Shaw's driveway and headed towards Sam's. Oliver had a key that he lent to them so they could spend the night there. Beth wanted to be at home for her birthday.

Although her dad wasn't going to be there, his fatherly vibe would be, and that was enough for her.

"We get to stay up late, right?" Beth said. "It's Saturday and we have don't have school until Monday."

Andy smirked. "We'll see how long you can stay up for." She teased the young girl. Beth looked back at Andy and poked her tongue out at her.

Beth really liked Andy. She really and truly did. Andy was one of those people that you just couldn't hate. And she had a motherly quality in her, something that Beth had missed for a long time.

But she was like the cool mom. She wasn't saying her mom wasn't cool or anything. Because she was.

Beth adored her mother.

But she liked Andy in a whole new way. Her passion was something that Beth really appreciated and wanted when she grew up.

Since day one Andy had helped her, although Beth knew that it would've been a pain in the ass seeing as she wouldn't talk to Andy for a while.

But she did, and Beth couldn't thank Andy enough for what she'd done.

"I got all the junk food already in the back, and got most of the movies you wanted too."

"Tangled?" Beth asked brightly.

"I got 'Tangled'." Andy grumbled.

She hated the movie just about as much as Sam did. But if Beth wanted it, she'd have it.

The rest of the drive was filled with chatter and laughter, each girl pestering the other about silly things. It was like they were best friends.

When they walked into the house Andy could actually see Beth relax. She saw her walk around with a bounce in her step, and she just looked all around casual.

She looked like the little girl Andy loved and adored.

"You wanna do the popcorn?" Andy asked from the living room, already throwing on 'Tangled'.

"Yep!" Beth yelled back.

Once Andy had set up the TV, she turned to her phone. It was flashing and vibrating. The number was an unknown caller.

She furrowed her brow, but answered anyway.

"Hello?"

_"Andy?" _

"Sam?" She asked hurriedly. "Sam, why are you calling, is everything alright? Are you okay?"

Andy peeked around the corner to make sure Beth wasn't in earshot, before running upstairs and locking herself in the bathroom.

"Sam?"

_"Andy. I...Everything's wrong and I don't know what to do anymore. I want to come home to you and Beth and I want to take away all the bad crap happening in my life and..."_ She heard his voice crack and heard him panting. He sounded like he was pacing.

"Are you hurt Sam?" She was trying to be as quiet as possible, but on the inside all she felt was panic.

_"Not physically."_

"Just calm down, sit down and then talk to me." She soothed. A few seconds later there were no more sounds, just the constant breathing coming from Sam.

_"I found out so much stuff Andy and I just want to come home." _

"You've been there for a week Sam." She stated. "You said you want to get closure and you want to keep Beth safe."

_"The only reason I'm here now is because of Beth. If I didn't have Beth I'd be home in a flash."_ He said in an almost deadly voice.

Andy paused before talking. "I thought you weren't meant to call."

_"I'm not." _He chuckled_. "But I really just wanted to hear your voice, and Beth's. But I can't talk to her. If I hear her I know I'll be home tomorrow for her birthday, and I won't come back here after that."_

"She's doing fine." She reassured. "She's smiling and stuff."

_"Good."_ She heard. _"I'm happy you're there with her." _More silence, then: _"Make sure you tell her I love her."_

"I will." She promised. "And I'm happy I'm here with her too." She sighed. "We're staying at your place tonight. Tomorrow's Beth's birthday and she wanted to stay here all day. She's not really happy with Zoe and Oli."

_"I won't be too much longer. I think I can be home in a month tops." _

"Are you kidding?" She asked. A large smile making it's way back to her face.

_"I wouldn't lie to you."_ He whispered.

"Good." Andy said.

_"Promise me you won't ever lie to me either."_ He said, his tone still hushed.

Andy gulped. "I promise, Sam."

* * *

Sam hung up from Andy an hour ago, and was now almost through a bottle of scotch.

His thoughts were going from Renee, to Beth and then back to Andy so quickly he thought his head was going to explode.

He felt so sick now, but he didn't want to stop drinking. He needed a way to forget about what he figured out today. Just for a few hours. Just so he could sleep.

He promised himself this was a one-time thing.

He never lost himself this way. He never drank too much because he knew that it was bad for him, and his family. Renee used to hate drinking.

She also hated when people lied to her.

God Sam felt like such an idiot. He felt like going back in time and...

He didn't even know.

He wouldn't say he regretted meeting Renee, because then Beth wouldn't be around, and everyone knew that Beth was the most important thing in Sam's life.

But if there was a way for him to keep Beth and never have had Renee, he would.

He seriously felt like the biggest dumb ass in the world right now. But he felt for his daughter.

Beth idolized her mother so much. She would never stop talking about her, or telling her how much she loved her, and yet Renee was going around living a second life.

How could she have done that to him?

How could she have done it to her own daughter?

What about when Beth asked about what he found when he was here? What was he supposed to tell her?

"Oh yeah sweetheart, I found out your mother was actually dating another man for 5 years, while she was still with us. But you know, no biggie."

Correction. Huge biggie.

Massive biggie.

He drank the last of the liquid, before dropping the bottle to their floor and lying back on the couch.

His anger was hard to control, but he was doing it.

He had replaced all the smashed items when he got back. Well...not replaced. More like cleaning up the pieces of glass and buying paper cups until he brought new ones.

He really wanted to go home right now. He really wanted to tell Andy everything that happened, and he wanted to go on with his life.

After this was over, after he was home from his UC, this Renee crap was going into the past.

Nothing was going to stop him from pursuing his life with Andy and Beth.

Nothing.

**Not the greatest chapter, but hope you enjoyed it.**

**Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi everyone! **

**I did post chapter 10 but it went weird then deleted, and I don't know. So I made some adjustments and added it again, so here it is. To all the people who PM'd me, I'm so sorry it deleted, but here it is.  
**

**I'm also really sorry it took me so long to update, my internet has been off for a while and I just got the chance to update. The next chapter will probably take about a week to get up as well, and I'm really sorry for that. **

**But here it is (finally), enjoy and let me know what you think!**

**Chapter 10**

Let's just say, Beth kind of...sort of...really regrets saying she could stay up that long.

With all the junk they'd eaten and how long she'd stayed up, her birthday may include her throwing up her guts and napping for half the day.

But right now, all she cared about was the sunlight seeping through the windows and hitting her eyes.

She and Andy had fallen asleep on the couches.

Which was also something she was now regretting.

Beth looked around the living room to see Andy still fast asleep, and a whole bunch of candy wrappers and chip packets spread across the floor. The TV was still turned on, with nothing playing on the screen.

If her dad were to walk in right now and see his living room, chances were that she'd be grounded for a while.

She reluctantly rolled off the couch onto all fours, and then picked herself up in a not-so-good-looking way, and stumbled over to Andy.

She hit Andy's arm lightly, not having the energy to open her mouth and tell Andy to wake up.

Again, she hit her arm, but still nothing.

Finally, she turned around and sat down on Andy's torso.

A loud yelp, followed by the young girls name being roared could be heard in the living room.

"What are you doing?" Andy grumbled, trying to make the girl go away. "I'm tired."

"It's my birthday." Beth murmured. She elbowed Andy and then closed her eyes. "Say happy birthday to me."

"Happy birthday." Andy said sleepily with a small smile on her face. "Double digits now huh? Feel any different?"

Beth chuckled. "Yeah. Totally." She said sarcastically. "I feel so different."

Andy chuckled back and lightly swatted Beth's arm. "Do you feel sick?"

She watched Beth pout and nod her head with a pained expression. "We ate soooo much crap." She commented.

Andy's eyes shot open and she eyed the girl. "Don't say crap. When your dad comes back and he here's that he'll never let me see you again."

"Pfft." Beth laughed. "I'll blame it on Aunt Zoe. Dad won't get mad at her." She shrugged. "I hope you didn't get me a cake. The next time I eat junk food I think I'll be 15."

"15?" Andy asked with a laugh. "I really think you're going to want to want junk before that. You know with cravings and hormones and all that cr...stuff."

Beth looked at Andy and then furrowed her brow. "Cravings and hormones?" She asked. "Why would I have cravings...isn't that for pregnant people?"

Andy sat up slightly and looked at Beth with her lip between her teeth. Should she be having _this _type of conversation with Beth? Would Sam want to do it, or would Sam want to be there if he did want Andy to do it?

"We'll talk about it another time...when your dads back." She settled on with a nod.

Beth scrunched up her face, but accepted anyway. Andy decided to lie back down, dragging Beth with her along the way. Beth was settled next to Andy comfortably, snuggling her head into the crook of Andy's neck. She wrapped her small arm around Andy's waist and sighed.

"Do you think dad's okay?" Beth asked. Her voice sounded more innocent than Andy had ever heard before. "I mean...do you think he's going to come home to us? Because if he didn't...I don't think I could deal with losing my dad too."

Andy sighed and closed her eyes. She placed a small, light kiss on Beth's head and breathed in her scent. Unlike Sam's more musky smell, Beth smelt like fruit.

These two smells had become her favourite.

"He's gonna come home." Andy said with determination in her tone. "I know he will come home. I know that he's not going to be taken away like your mom was. And I know that he's going to do absolutely everything he can to make sure he comes home."

She felt Beth nod and Andy waited for the tears.

But nothing came.

"Okay." Beth whispered. She snuggled further into Andy and sighed contently. "Do you ever think about the future?"

"What about the future?"

"Like..." Beth huffed. "You know. Maybe you and my dad getting married and maybe having kids one day?"

Andy stopped breathing for a second before she answered. "Sometimes." She admitted. "I like to think about it. It makes me happy."

"Do you think about it a lot?"

Andy nodded.

"I think you and my dad would make cute babies. At least then I'd have brothers and sisters." She said.

"You don't think they'd annoy you?" Andy chuckled. "When you're older you're going to want to be with your friends. They'll probably want to go with you too."

"I wouldn't mind." Beth insisted. "I think I'd like them. Besides..." She sighed. "I don't think I'll have much friends when I'm older either. I don't think school's good for me any more. Like...normal schools." She clarified. "I like the one that I'm at now."

"I like it too." Andy giggled. "Anyway." She said with a sigh. "We better get up. It's already midday and you're wasting your birthday away."

Beth groaned loudly into Andy's chest. "We have nothing important to do. Can't we just sleep for the rest of the day?"

"No!" Andy said quite sternly. "It's your birthday and we have to make it as special as we can with how much time is left in the day. Let's go!" She cheered. She rolled off the couch with Beth still connected to her; making both the girls fall to the ground with a thud.

Andy started cracking up laughing while Beth complained.

After some petty arguments and some whining from, both girls were ready to go.

When they got in the car Beth told Andy where she wanted to go. Andy raised a questioning eyebrow, but relented anyway.

* * *

Sam walked into the building the next morning to find James sitting by himself. He was looking through a few bits of paper on the table and drinking from a tall cup of coffee.

"James." Sam greeted.

"Marty." He said with a smile. "How are you after yesterday? A little bit of a shocker, ey?" He cackled.

Sam nodded, then sat down opposite him. He put his file back on the table. This time it only contained notes.

About a minute later, Laurie ran in with wide eyes. "Guys!" He shouted. "Hey. Uh. I may have just seen Brennan outside."

Sam opened his mouth, but words wouldn't come out. He felt mute. "What?" He choked after a while.

Laurie nodded. "Yep. He's out there talking to what's his face."

"Who the hell is what's his face?" Sam asked, getting rapidly impatient. He jumped up off his chair and started toward Laurie.

"Corey or whatever the guys name is!" He yelled back. Sam pushed Laurie aside and ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time. He sprinted out the doors and then stopped. He looked left, then right.

A second later he saw a white Camry driving away. He looked behind him and saw Laurie and James, both men looking at Sam questionably. "Okay..." He muttered to himself. He looked back to the road and watched the Camry drive. "Okay...Alright." He spoke louder this time. "We need to follow that car." He pointed to the Camry.

James ushered both men into is SUV and they began following Corey. Driving behind them lead the three men to a coffee shop. When Corey and Brennan got out, so did Sam.

"Stay here." He said. "It'll look more normal if I just go."

He waited for them to agree before following the guys. He watched Jamie and Corey talk with hushed voices. They made their way into an ally way behind the coffee shop and stood for a few minutes. Brennan waited until no one was walking to start talking.

Sam stood around the corner trying to keep out of sight.

"You get anything on him?" Brennan asked.

"Did you really murder Lisa?"

Jamie sighed and rubbed his temples. "That doesn't matter, alright?" He asked. "What matters is if you got any info."

Corey groaned before nodding. "I know that Lisa was his wife and that you _mutilated_ her." He said. "How could you do that to Lisa? She was happy with you and you killed her? Why? Because...because she had a husband and daughter at home?" He snapped. Corey ran his fingers through his hair and sniffed, trying to keep himself calm.

"No." Brennan answered. "Nope. That's not why. The reason why I killed Lisa is none of your business."

Sam really wished he had something to record this conversation on. With witnesses and this recorded Brennan could be put away. He honestly felt like punching himself in the face.

"It is my business if I have to keep it a secret. I won't tell anyone anything if you tell me why you killed her." Corey promised. Sam peeked around the corner and saw the two of them. He watched Corey push on his glasses and scratch his forehead frustrated.

"I'm not telling you." Brennan said.

"Fine." Corey laughed. "I'm just going to drive back to the guys and tell them that you murdered her and that I know a lot more than they think."

"Okay!" Brennan yelled. "But I swear to god if you tell a soul, I will kill you like I killed her."

Corey hesitantly nodded. His face was stoic as he waited for Brennan to start explaining.

"I murdered her because she told me she was pregnant." He said in almost a whisper. Sam honestly didn't know if he heard him right.

After a beat of silence, Corey finally found his voice. "You're not kidding?"

Brennan nodded, silently letting Corey know he wasn't lying. He closed his eyes and continued. "She came to me and told me she was pregnant. The last time she came...back in August she told me she just found out a day ago."

Corey saw red. "Why the freakin' hell would you kill someone who was pregnant, and your girlfriend!" Corey screamed.

Sam's whole body had become weak, and he was already sitting on the ground, his weight becoming too heavy for his legs to handle. He was shaking his head again and covering his face with his hands.

"She told me it was his, and..." Brennan sucked in a large breath. "and I got scared because I thought she was telling me she was leaving and..."

"So you thought the best thing to do was to kill her?" Sam asked, finding the strength to finally stand up and approach them. "You killed my pregnant wife because you were scared?" The look on Sam's face was something you'd never, ever want to see.

Ever.

Bright red and teeth clenched and wide eyed. He looked really, really threatening.

"Sam." Brennan said with an evil chuckle. "What a surprise."

"You killed my pregnant wife." Sam whispered. "You freakin' bastard!" He screamed. "You murdered my wife and she was pregnant with my kid!"

Brennan let out a dark laugh. "Sam, your wife was cheating on you for 5 years. What would've happened when you found out if she was still alive?" He taunted. "You would've wanted a divorce." Brennan started. Slowly, he walked toward Sam and stood in front of him with a smirk. "Then both of your children would've had to go through their parents splitting, you wouldn't see them all the time, you'd have joint custody.

So, in a way I did do you a favour." He ended with a small shrug and unruly smile, showing off his disgusting teeth, again. Brennan's stench wasn't pleasant, and his presence was actually making Sam want to stab him in the gut.

"You," Sam spat, pointing a finger in Jamie's face. "Didn't do me any favours. You murdered my wife and unborn child. Yeah, I probably would've wanted a divorce, but my daughter wouldn't have to go through depression and she'd still have her mom."

"What about when Beth grew up?" Brennan asked lightly. "The reason for her parents divorce was because her mother cheated. Imagine what would've happened then." He chuckled.

Sam shook his head and scoffed.

This guy, a foot away from him murdered his wife, and his soon-to-be kid. Why in the hell wasn't he trying to murder the guy?

"You ruined my family." Sam said in a deadly tone. He kept his eyes on Brennan. "You murdered my wife and child, and you wrecked the life of my daughter. I will make sure you..."

"You know she was going to leave you, right?" Jamie asked. "Yeah." He chuckled when he saw Sam was at a loss for words. "She told me she was going to leave during the night so you and Beth wouldn't know."

"She wouldn't do that." Sam informed him. "The Beth I knew would never leave her family."

Brennan rolled his eyes. "The girl you knew was a totally different person to the one I knew."

Sam's brow furrowed and he opened his mouth slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Well..." He breathed. "The girl you know loved her family, stayed home and provided for them. She was kind and nurturing. But the one I knew...she loved the excitement of being on the wrong side of the law. She loved watching people die-''

"Shut up!" He snapped. "Don't try and say shit about my wife that isn't true!"

"But it all is!" Brennan yelled. "Everything I'm telling you now, is true."

"Why are you doing this?" Sam whispered with closed eyes.

Brennan groaned, then slumped back against the brick wall, rubbing his face with his hands angrily. "Because I want you to stop trying to get justice for her! She did something bad to you, she cheated on you for 5 _years, _Sam. Why would you try to get justice for someone who'd do that to you?"

Sam stood in front of Brennan, looking down on him slightly. "Because even if she was cheating on me, she gave me the best thing in my life, and she did make me happy. I'm not just going to stop giving a shit now."

After a beat of silence, a light bulb went off in Sam's head. "You just don't want me to bring you down, do you?"

Brennan looked at Sam with cold eyes.

"You don't want to be in jail for the rest of your life, well guess what buddy, it's going to happen."

"IT WON'T HAPPEN!" Brennan roared. "I'LL MAKE SURE IT NEVER, EVER HAPPENS!"

Suddenly, there was a gunshot.

* * *

"Why are we here?" Andy asked with raised eyebrows. "I never thought that you'd want to go to High Park for your birthday. I mean..." She chuckled a little. "You're 10 and a girl and all you want to do is go to High Park."

Beth nodded. "It was a tradition my mom and I had." She said with a shrug. "We used to come here in the afternoon and hang out. Watch people and just talk until we wanted dinner. Then dad would come get us and we'd all go out."

Andy listened to Beth carefully, feeling a smile coming on when she realised Beth was letting her in on the tradition.

"I think mom would still want me to do it even if she isn't here."

Beth looked at Andy and saw that she was biting her bottom lip. No words would come out of Andy's mouth at that moment.

"You don't have to do it with me." Beth said quietly. "I understand if you don't want to but..."

"Beth." Andy whispered. She grabbed her small hand in his and squeezed it tightly. "Thanks."

Beth gave Andy a nod, then wrapped her arms around Andy's waist. "Thanks to you too."

Andy knew if she said anything else she'd cry, so she hugged Beth back before pulling away and grabbing her hand again. They walked along the path, hands swinging together and they just...

Talked.

About anything.

And everything.

"You know." Beth sighed. "I'm really happy I met you."

"So am I." Andy said sincerely.

As the two walked through the park, they were given friendly smiles from strangers, and they heard a few 'what a lovely family' compliments thrown around it people's conversations.

It made Andy's stomach tingle.

"So Andy, tell me more about you." Andy chuckled. "What about me? You know my age and what my job is. You know that my mom died and that I have 2 stepbrothers and a step mom. You know that my dad is dead now." She shrugged. "What else do you want to know?"

"I guess I do know just about everything, huh?" Beth sighed. "Well I don't know what to talk about." She started to play with the hem of her shirt.

Andy was about to speak, but stopped when she saw Oliver walking toward them. He was walking at a pretty fast pace too. His face held a hint of worry and his eyes screamed fear.

"Oliver?" She questioned when he reached them.

He looked between the two girls.

The two girls who were now the most important girls in his life. The two who kept him sane and who he wanted to come home to.

Andy saved him. Oliver already knew that. When Beth needed help she helped them, and as far as he was concerned she had succeeded. And Beth...she was the apple to her fathers eye. In his mind Beth was the definition of perfect.

"Is everything alright Uncle Oli?" Beth asked with innocence, no longer whispering.

Oliver looked at the girls again, before finally talking. "You both need to come with me."

**There it is. Again, I'm really, really sorry that I didn't update like usual, and unfortunately I'm probably only going to get one, maybe two chapters up in the next week, or maybe 2.**

**Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi everyone. I'm so, so sorry this took so long for me to update. My internet was off and I couldn't put anything up until it came on, but here it is. I gave you guys more than one chapter to make up for it.**

**Thank you so much for the reviews, and for reading the story.**

**Let me know what you think!**

**Chapter 11**

"Oliver, what's going on?" Andy asked. She and Beth quickly jumped into Oliver's car and buckled their belts. Beth was leaning forward in her seat, wanting to hear the conversation about to take place.

Oliver didn't answer though. He took a large breath then started the car.

"Oliver!" Andy snapped, rather impatiently. "What's happening?" She demanded.

She watched him look in the rear view mirror at Beth, before pulling out of the parking lot.

"Boyd called me. I don't know what's happening, I don't know if Sam's okay or where he is. But he told me that Sam called and told me to take you guys to the station to talk to Boyd."

"If Sam's hurt..." She shook her head. She couldn't finish the thought. She didn't want to finish the thought. Sam couldn't be hurt.

"Dad's not hurt." Beth said. "He told me he was going to come home to me. He promised." She insisted. Her voice sounding more innocent then Andy had ever heard.

Andy looked back at the girl and nodded. She turned back to Oliver and watched his facial expressions. He was still worried, which told her that he really didn't know as much as she first thought.

The drive to the station was silent. Neither of the three knew what to say or do with the small information they were given. And neither of them knew what they were going to do with the information they were about to get given.

Andy had a feeling in the pit of her gut. She didn't know what the feeling meant, but it felt weird.

When they arrived Andy and Beth jumped out of the car in a flash, already holding each other's hand and waiting very impatiently for Oliver to get out. When he did, the three nearly ran into the precinct.

Frank saw them walk in, and waved a hand from his office trying to catch their attention. He watched Oliver tap Andy on the shoulder and point to his office. She gave Frank a small smile, then walked up the steps and to his door. Immediately, he let them in and told them to take a seat.

"Is Sam alright?" She asked desperately. It was only when a snort was heard that Andy saw another man in the room. "Who are you?" She asked.

"I'm Detective Donavon Boyd. Who are you?" He said quite irritably.

"Andy." She said simply. "You're the guy running Sam's UC?"

"Yep." He said, popping the 'p'.

"Well?" Andy snapped. "Why are we here? Is he alright?"

Beth sat back and watched the conversation between Andy and Boyd, and she could tell they were both frustrated. "My dad's okay, yeah?" She finally spoke up.

Boyd's face softened at the young girl, and he gave her a small grin. "Your dad is fine." He assured. "He had a little run in with Brennan and a guy he worked with. Sammy and Brennan had an argument and..." He looked at Beth. Boyd didn't know if he should be talking about her dad's UC in front of her.

He didn't know if Sam wanted her to know anything about what he was doing.

Frank saw Boyd's hesitation and gave him a small nod that told him to continue.

"Jamie got shot in the head by the guy he worked with. Sam called an ambulance and me. The guy that shot him ratted out every single person that worked with Brennan. He led our team in Vancouver to their warehouse and they all got arrested."

"When did this happen?" Oliver asked.

"I'd say about 3 hours ago was when the guys were arrested." He said.

Andy furrowed her brow. "Are you sure you got everyone?" She asked. "What if the guy was lying and there was still guys working in other states?"

"There isn't." Boyd retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "But if there is, the guy knows what's going to happen to him."

"So he's safe?" Beth asked hopefully.

"He's safe." He nodded.

Andy and Beth both let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Is he on his way home?" Oliver wondered aloud.

Boyd's smile fell.

"What?" Andy demanded.

Boyd rubbed the back of his neck and then rubbed a hand over his face. "He won't be home for another 2 weeks."

"What?" Beth screeched. She stood abruptly from her chair and snapped her eyes to Boyd's. "What do you mean 2 weeks, you said he was done!"

"He is done!" Boyd argued. "He just needs to stay there for a little while longer. He just needs to finish some stuff up, you know." He said with a shrug.

Beth was pissed. "No! No I don't know. Why can't he do all that stuff here?"

Boyd groaned and rubbed his temples. "He told me he wanted to do it in Vancouver. He said something about needing to be focused."

Andy sniffed. "Focused?" She choked. "Why would he need to be focused? He can be focused here!" She too jumped out of her chair and demanded answers.

"I don't know." He sighed. "I don't know what to tell you guys." He dropped his arms to his sides in defeat.

Beth scoffed. "How about you tell us that you're lying and that he's already on a plane home?"

"I don't want to lie." Boyd shrugged.

"Is there a way for us to talk to him?" Oliver questioned.

Boyd shrugged. "I'm not sure. When we called we used his burner phone, and I'm pretty sure he's chucked it out. He might have his old cell with him, unless he left it at his house."

"I want to know why he chose to stay in Vancouver." Andy huffed. "I mean, sure his UC only just finished, but it only took him a week, right? He shouldn't have to stay in Vancouver for another 2 weeks to 'finish up'"

"He said he wanted to stay to talk to the other two guys he was working with. To talk to them about Brennan and all that crap." Boyd said.

"So Sam's in Vancouver for another 2 weeks?" Andy sighed.

"Seems like it, Andy." Boyd chuckled. "He's fine though, I promise."

* * *

"Brennan got killed?" Laurie asked. He was sitting across from Sam, his head resting in his hand.

"Yeah." Sam nodded. "When I left you guys in the car I heard him and Corey talking about Renee." He jumped up off his chair and stretched his back. He had little to no sleep last night. Jamie Brennan's murder replayed in his head every time he closed his eyes.

The way the blood sprayed from his head as his eyes popped open and his mouth fell. The way his body smacked onto the pavement and the bullet hole gaped right between the eyes.

"I heard the gunshot, but me and Laurie drove off as soon as it happened. We didn't know what to do." James admitted, staring down at the table. "He got the easy way out." He whispered, closing his eyes.

"Yeah." Laurie mumbled. "I'd rather him rot in a jail cell for the rest of his life."

"The guy killed the love of my life and my unborn child." James whispered, his voice breaking.

"Me too." Sam admitted. "I found out that Brennan murdered Renee because she was pregnant with my kid." He rubbed his face angrily. "It sucks that you'll never get to meet them, you know?"

"I know the feeling, brother." James commented with a nod. "I feel like shit when I saw her in the bathtub. She looked terrible."

"My mom..." Laurie trailed off and shook his head. His eyes still staying closed and his voice still hollow. "I want more than death to happen to Jamie Brennan. I want him to feel the pain that we did."

"He won't be able to." Sam snapped, running his hand over his gruff facial hair, then trailing his hand to yank a little at his messy hair. "He's dead now. Bullet straight between the eyes." He pointed to the spot between his eyes.

"He deserved it." Laurie shrugged. "He deserved being shot and he deserves being 6 feet under."

"I don't know what I'm doing." James whispered. "I haven't been able to move on from my girlfriend and baby since they left. I mean..." I grunted. "I need a change of scenery. I need a change in everything. I need a new place to live, to forget about everything that happened."

"That's exactly, how I feel." Sam whispered

* * *

"Hello." Andy breathed when she finally go downstairs. She had to bolt down them from Beth's room to reach her cell. And she was pissed.

Who the hell calls at 4 in the morning?

_"Andy?"_

"Sam?" Andy asked, immediately snapping to attention. "Hey, are you alright? You're in Vancouver for another two weeks?" She rushed.

_"Yeah." _He answered. _"I kind of want to stay with the guys I was working with for a bit longer, you know? The case ended kind of abruptly and I want to make sure they're okay." _

Andy nodded and rubbed her eyes. "We really miss you." She sighed, her voice cracking at the last word. "We miss you so much it hurts sometimes. Beth and I have been worried because Boyd said Brennan got shot and you didn't call us to tell us that you were okay and even though Boyd said you were it still scared me to think that maybe you weren't okay and it's just so good to hear your voice." She rambled, ending a little breathless.

_"I'm fine, Andy." _Sam said with a small chuckle._ "I'm fine, and all in one piece. But my UC isn't done yet and I just have a lot to figure out."_

"Is there another reason why you don't want to come home yet?" Andy asked, making herself comfortable on the counter. "You seem unsure."

She could tell that there was more. She was a therapist, she was trained to know when people were uncomfortable and not telling the whole story. Her job was to make people talk.

_"I'm fine, Andy. Just have a few things to sort out and think over before I come home." _He sighed.

Andy perked up. "Think over? Like what. Us?"

_"No!" _Sam almost shouted._ "No. Not us, okay? I want us. I need there to be an 'Us'." _He confessed._ "But I need to figure out some stuff. Just trust me, okay?"_

Andy rubbed her forehead angrily and tugged at her ponytail, trying to find a way to relieve her anger and restlessness she was developing from not knowing the whole story.

She wanted to yell and demand answers, but she didn't want to wake up Beth.

Suddenly, Andy's phone was snatched out of her hand, and Beth was standing next to her.

"Daddy?" She asked. "Where are you, are you okay?"

Sam's heart dropped when he finally heard his daughter's voice. He'd only been gone for a week, but it was definitely a week too long.

"_Hey sweetheart. I'm fine, I'll be back soon_." He said with a small smile. His daughter could honestly do anything and he'd be happy.

He heard her whine. "Why don't you come back now?" She asked hopefully. "I'm all better now. I've been talking to a lot of people and I've been going out places." She rambled. "You can come home now because I'm better and you'll be happy that I'm better."

"_I was already happy Beth. I've always been happy when you're with me."_ He said honestly. His voice held love and adoration.

"But you've been sad because of my depression." She reasoned. "Now that I'm better you'll be happy when you come home."

Sam blinked back his tears. "_I'm already happy because I have you. No matter what you'll always make me the happiest man in the world, but daddy just needed a little break before he came home_." He explained thoroughly, hoping she wouldn't ask a lot of questions like what she tended to do a lot.

"Uncle Oli and Andy took me to the station a few days ago. They said that you're staying in Vancouver for 2 more weeks." She said worriedly. "Are we safe?" She asked, tracing the pattern of her pajama top.

"_We're safe."_ He whispered with closed eyes. "_We're safe and when I come home we'll all be happy." _

The only thing Sam was dreading was explaining to Beth what he'd found out on his UC. She was a sticky beak, his daughter, and she'd no doubt want to know everything about his findings.

But...the thing with Renee...

He didn't know what to do.

"Good." She said with a nod. "I'm tired so I'm going to put Andy back on now, but I'll see you soon?" She asked hopefully.

"_You're calling her Andy now_?" Sam said with a small chuckle. "_That's good_." He praised.

"Yeah." He heard her say whilst yawning.

"_Go to sleep sweetheart, I'll call you again tomorrow._"

"Love you daddy."

"_Love you Beth."_

Beth handed Andy back her phone, then gave her a kiss on the cheek and made her way back upstairs. Andy waited for her door to close before she started talking again.

"Please just tell me what happened." Andy pleaded. "Just the gist of it. You don't even have to tell me the whole thing."

_"Andy."_ Sam warned. "_I found out a lot of shitty stuff. I don't know If I'm ready to talk about it yet." _He said honestly.

"If you want there to be an 'us'," Andy started. "You need to be able to tell me things. You need to be able to open up to me, and me to you, because that's what relationships are. They're about love, and trust."

"_I just don't want to believe what happened..."_ He finally whispered. "_5 years of our marriage was a total lie, and maybe even before that, I don't know, but I know about a definite 5 years." _He rambled.

"What are you talking about?" Andy asked with a furrowed brow. She took a seat in the living room and curled up into a ball against the armrest. She turned the TV on lightly so then Beth couldn't hear their conversation.

"_Renee did some stuff."_ He chuckled sadly. "_I know why she was murdered_."

"Tell me."

"_She uh..."_ Sam rubbed his forehead.

"S_he was cheating on me for 5 years."_

"Oh Sam." Andy sighed helplessly. She put a hand over her chest and breathed heavily.

Sam nodded and closed his eyes. "_Yep. Renee was cheating on me with Brennan. She found out she was pregnant with my kid and then Brennan killed her and the baby because he didn't want her to leave him. HOW STUPID IS THAT_?" He screamed the last part.

Sam slid his phone to the other side of the table and continued yelling to everyone who would listen.

"_WHO THE HELL HAS A HUSBAND AND DAUGHTER, AND THEN CHEATS ON THEM WITH A CRIMINAL FOR 5 YEARS? WHAT TYPE OF SANE PERSON DOES THAT_?" He was walking around Sarah's kitchen, pulling at his hair.

"Sam!" Andy yelled through the speaker, urgently wanting him to calm down. "Sam! Hey! Pick up the phone!"

"_SHE WAS AN INCONSIDERATE LITTLE..."_

"SAM!" Andy screamed.

"Andy, what's wrong?" Beth asked from her room.

"Nothing Beth, go back to sleep." Andy ordered.

She heard footsteps coming down the stairs and rolled her eyes. "Is there something wrong with dad?" She asked worriedly.

"No, just go to bed."

"Let me talk to him." Beth said.

Andy shook her head. "You've already talked to him and he's not in a good mood." Andy covered her speakers so Beth couldn't hear Sam screaming.

"Let me talk to him again." Beth suggested. "He'll be happy if I get to talk to him."

She walked closer to Andy and tried to grab the phone again.

"No." Andy screeched, pulling the phone away. "Your dad's not in a good mood and he wouldn't want you to hear him like this, so go back to bed." Andy said in a pleading tone.

"But I want to talk to him." Beth responded.

"_I CAN'T BELIEVE I WASTED..."_

"Sam!" Andy yelled into the phone. "Stop screaming please!"

"Why's dad screaming?" Beth asked panicking. "Is he okay? Is he hurt."

"_SON OF A-"_

"SAM!" Andy yelled. She felt Beth trying to pry the phone from her hands. "Beth, knock it off!"

"SHE WAS SUCH A-"

"Dad?" Beth asked sweetly, finally getting the phone in her hands.

"_LITTLE PRICK OF A WOMAN WHO DIDN'T DESERVE ANYTHING! SHE DIDN'T DESERVE ME OR BETH OR ANYONE. PRAISE THE LORD ABOVE THAT SHE DIED!"_

"Dad?" Beth whispered with teary eyes, completely shocked at what her father just yelled.

After a minutes silence, Sam finally picked up the phone. "_Did you hear all that Andy? That's what Renee did, and what happened to her is what she deserved an-"_

* * *

"_Daddy_?" Beth interrupted.

Sam covered his mouth in shock and closed his watery eyes. "Beth?"

"_Daddy. Why'd you say that_?" She choked.

Sam shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. "Beth-"

"_Why'd you say that about mom?" _She whispered._ "Why are you happy she's dead?"_ She asked as a sob ripped through her chest.

Sam didn't know what to say. He stood up from the kitchen table and started pacing around it, slapping his hand against his forehead repeatedly. "I-I...I don't..." He struggled. "Beth, I'm not-"

"_Tell me the truth_." She whimpered. "_I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm 10 not 3_."

"I know." Sam breathed with a nod. He rubbed his eyes angrily with his free hand. "I know you're not."

"_Tell me what happened."_

Sam bit his bottom lip, and kept his eyes closed. "Mom did some bad stuff Beth. Stuff that you might not understand."

"_Just tell me_."

"Your mom wasn't a good person." Sam shrugged. He knew what he was about to say was going to break his daughters heart. It might turn her back into the sad and depressed girl she once was.

"_Yeah she was."_ Beth argued weekly.

Sam shook his head. "No she wasn't."

"_What did she do wrong_?"

Sam sighed. "Just...bad stuff Beth, okay?"

_"Why won't you tell me?" _She pleaded, her voice becoming high pitched_. "How bad was it?"_

"It was bad." Sam said with a nod. "I don't want you to be exposed to that type of stuff." He sat his butt back down in a chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn't prepared to tell her about what Renee did.

He didn't want to make her worse than she was before. He didn't want to put all the hard work Andy had done to waste. He didn't want Beth to divert back to her old ways, or even see Renee as someone who didn't love her.

He wanted to protect Beth from things that could potentially hurt her. This thing with Renee could hurt her more than Renee actually being dead.

_"Dad. Please just tell me." _

"She cheated on us for 5 years, Beth."

**There you have it guys. Let me know what you think and again, I apologise for getting this out so late!**

**I don't know when the next chapter will be out, I've written it and then deleted it all because I'm not sure, but hopefully it won't be too long, but if it is I apologise in advance.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

**What a huge mess, hey? At least I got the reaction I wanted! **

**Again, let me know what you think.**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

"Beth? Beth? BETH!" Sam yelled through the speaker. "Beth!"

"_Beth!" _He could hear. Andy's voice sounded as if she was at a distance.

Suddenly Sam heard Andy's phone clatter to the fall, and the sound of a body hitting the ground. Then he heard someone struggling to breathe.

"Andy!" Sam screamed. "What's going on?"

"_Sam. I've just put you on loudspeaker, okay_?" She said panicked.

"Yeah, what's going on?" He asked, jumping back off his chair. "Is Beth alright?"

"_Sam, she's having a panic attack."_ Andy said, her voice still dripping with terror. _"She's barely breathing!"_ Andy screamed. "_I'm hanging up and calling an ambulance, get your ass home!" _She yelled. Then he heard the dial tone.

"Shit, shit, shit." Sam swore. "Sarah! Get me a flight back to Toronto stat! Get the earliest one, I don't care how much it costs!"

"Sam, what's..."

"Just please do it!" He demanded. Quickly, he made his way down the hallway and to the guest room, extremely happy that he'd just arrived and hadn't unpacked anything.

"Oh god." He muttered to himself, digging the heels of his palms into his closed eyes. "Why'd I lie?" He asked no one but himself. "Beth better be okay." He whispered.

"Sam!" Sarah said breathlessly, running into the room. "The next flight leaves in 2 hours, direct to Toronto. Takes just over 24 hours to get there."

Sam sighed. "Get it. Here" He said, handing her his card. "Pay for it online. I don't care about the cost, and do it quickly."

Sarah furrowed her brows, but did as she was told. "You better tell me what's goin' on Sammy." She said, her voice drowning out as she went back into her bedroom.

Sam started to feel nauseas. She was barely breathing? What if she stopped breathing? Panic attacks can get to the point where their breathing just stops, right?

He got off the bed and started pacing holes in the floors, tugging at his hair and digging his closed fists into his forehead, all the while keeping his eyes closed and teeth clenched.

'Why the friggin' hell did I tell her?' He inwardly asked himself. 'She shouldn't have had to listen to that stuff about her mom. She's 10!' He bit his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

"We need to leave now if we want to get to the airport, Sam." Sarah advised quietly, putting a reassuring hand on his arm. "Did you tell them you were here?"

Sam shook his head. "I told them I was still in Vancouver."

"You left Vancouver a day ago, Sam." Sarah sighed. "You've been lied to for 5 years, and now you're lying to them?" She asked. Sam could tell she was really upset with him. That she was disappointed in what he'd done. "You need to call her and make things right, but we need to go." She grabbed Sam's duffle and threw it over her shoulder, leading him to her car.

"I told Beth what Renee did." He whispered once they'd started driving. "I told her Renee cheated for 5 years. Why'd I do it?" He growled. "She shouldn't think lowly about Renee. She raised her for 9 years!" He slammed his hands on the inside of the door and elbowed his seat.

Sarah was used to this. Well...not this particularly, but him being pissed and punching everything within reach. But he'd never lay a hand on a person.

Unless it was Jamie Brennan. He'd probably, definitely lay a hand on Jamie Brennan, if the bastard was still here.

"What's happened, why do you need to go home so early?" She asked. She turned on her indicator and stepped on the accelerator, trying to get to the airport as quickly as possible.

Sam rubbed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. "I told Beth and then she had a massive panic attack. Apparently she was barely breathing and Andy called the ambulance. I need to hurry up and get back." He said. "What if something's happened to her?" He dreaded. "Thank god I put Andy as her second emergency contact." Sam rambled.

"Why would you tell her?" Sarah shrieked. "She shouldn't hear about her mom doing that! It's her mother, Sam."

"I know that."

"Then why'd you do it?"

Sam groaned and slumped back into the chair. "I made a huge mistake, alright? This whole thing has been a massive mistake. Me taking the UC, that was a mistake. Me finding out about Renee cheating on me, tore me to bits, finding out about my unborn child also knocked me off the wagon. Me coming here and not telling anyone was also another mistake I've made." He shook his head at himself. "I've made a terrible decision and I want to take it all back. I want to go back to when..." He chuckled. "The day that I met Andy."

"Why?"

He bit his lip. "So I could man up and ask her out almost straight away. So then I could get over Renee quicker and, if that happened, I'd be happy right now. We'd be..." He sighed. "I dunno. Maybe we'd all be sitting together as a family. Not a family but...close to it." Sam shrugged and looked over at Sarah. "I'd take back Renee dying for Beth's sake. But I'd still want to meet Andy. She made me so ridiculously happy in the 3 months I've known her."

Sarah grinned at her little brother. "I'm glad you're happy."

"Andy and Beth are amazing." He smiled. "So Beth better be okay or I wouldn't know what to do." Remembering why he was going home almost brought him to tears. His baby, his life was barely breathing.

"She'll be fine."

"You don't know that." Sam snapped. "Sorry."

Sarah huffed, and continued driving as quickly as the speed limit allowed.

"If you ever decided to have kids, Sarah. You'd understand how hard it is to watch, or hear them suffer." He said. "I'm dying on the inside." He patted the left side of his chest. "My heart is beating so fast and it's almost fallen all the way out my ass, and I won't be okay or even remotely okay until I see her breathing."

"I know you love her." Sarah said. "I love her too."

"I love her with every ounce of my being." He admitted. He kept his eyes on the road and wouldn't dare let Sarah look at the tears that had blurred his vision. But he wouldn't let them fall. "Sorry for being an ass to you. And thank you so much for being there for me."

"I owe you from when I was a teen, Sam."

* * *

"You think my dad was telling the truth?" Beth whispered with droopy eyes. She licked her dry lips slowly and situated herself more comfortably. Well, as comfortable as you could get in a hospital bed.

Andy leaned back on the hard plastic chair and bit her bottom lip. "I don't know." She said with a shrug. "Do you think he'd lie to you?"

She watched Beth give a small shake of her head, her eyes never leaving Andy's. "I hate my mom." She whispered. She closed her eyes and continued to whisper. "She made me and my dad so upset and she ruined our lives. And then we find out that she was cheating on us all along." Beth shook her head from side to side slowly.

"You didn't hate her, Beth, and you don't hate her." Andy said lightly. "You're angry at her. But when she was here you loved her so much, and she loved you."

"She didn't love me." Beth retorted with a sad chuckle. "She lied to us for 5 years."

"She loved you though, okay? She did."

"Well. She's gone now." Beth said, her voice still weak and hoarse. "Maybe it's a good thing."

"You shouldn't be resenting your own mother, Beth. Yeah, she may have done something bad, but she showed you every single day that she loved you." Andy said firmly. "She raised your for 9 years."

"And she was cheating for 5 of them." Beth mumbled, crossing her slim arms over her chest.

Andy nodded. "Maybe she did. But she still loved you."

Beth stopped speaking, letting Andy know she didn't want to talk about it any more.

The two girls were in silence for a long while. Beth was thinking over Andy's words thoroughly. She really wanted her dad to be wrong. She didn't want to think that her mother had actually cheated on them for 5 years.

"How are you feeling?" Andy asked out of the blue, scooting her chair closer and grabbing hold of the little girl's hand.

"Better." She said with a small grin. "Sorry you freaked out."

"If you think I freaked out, you should've heard your father on the other end. He was screaming and everything." She chuckled.

"Will he be here soon?" Beth asked, her eyes still heavy. She yawned and started to sink into the pillows.

"Go to sleep. I'll wake you up when he comes." She said, stroking Beth's silky hair. She watched Beth nod and sit up. Andy knew what she wanted immediately.

Andy wrapped her arms around Beth and held her tightly against her body and kissed her temple. "I love you, Andy." Beth sighed. "Thanks for making me and my dad happy."

Andy stopped breathing at the confession. This girl had stolen her heart.

"I love you, too." Andy whispered against her ear. "You're the most amazing little girl Beth."

She felt Beth nod and kiss her cheek before she let go and finally succumbed to sleep.

Andy slipped out of the room before Beth heard her crying. The little girl inside that room had turned her to mush. She had changed Andy's life forever, in the best way possible.

Beth only had to smile and Andy felt better. She felt like slapping Renee silly for ever cheating on them.

Andy wiped her eyes dry before any of the nurses saw her crying. She sniffed and then crossed her arms over her chest in attempt to keep herself warm.

She looked down the hallway of the wing, and decided to go out and get some fresh air, hoping Beth wouldn't wake up.

As soon as she reached the doors she barged through them and relished the feeling of the sunshine and cool breeze hitting her skin. Hospitals made her feel sick and uncomfortable. The antiseptic smell and the cleanliness and beeping and machines were just claustrophobic.

But hey, If Beth was there, she was there.

Andy decided to take a seat on a bench just outside the building. She crossed her legs and placed her hands lightly in her lap.

God...her life was so confusing right now.

She had fallen in love with a 10-year-old girl and her dad, who she had almost started a relationship with in the span of 3 months. It had taken her a year and a half to even nearly fall in love with her previous boyfriend, yet it's taken 3 months for this family to captivate her.

Andy honestly didn't mind, though.

Her potential life with these two made her happier than she had been in...ever.

But the man that was making her happy was acting and did something extremely stupid. He made Beth think poorly of her own mother. If he was here right now she would probably box his ears.

But she should've hung up the phone. She should've snatched the phone back and hung up as soon as Beth got her hands on it.

She sighed and rubbed her face angirly.

She didn't know when he'd be here. She hadn't heard from him since she called the ambulance.

Yesterday frightened her. Beth lying on the floor, almost lifeless had nearly made her have a heart attack, no joke.

"Andy?"

Her thoughts immediately stopped. She knew that voice. She knew the feeling of him being close. She could sense him. She knew it was him.

Andy snapped her head to her right to see Sam standing there panting. His hair was disheveled and his clothes were creased and untidy. He still had his facial hair and his eyes looked tired and lifeless. It almost brought her to tears to see him standing there.

"Andy, hey." He said, his voice breaking at the end.

"Sam." She said with a whimper. "Oh god, you're back." She whispered. As quickly as she could, she ripped herself off the bench and threw herself into Sam's arms.

* * *

Sam wrapped one of his strong arms around her waist, and the other at the back of her head, wanting to keep her body as close to him as possible. Her scent hit him like a ton of bricks, which he would happily let tumble all over him.

Her skin set his on fire, and he felt more alive than he had in a very, long time. Being away from Andy for almost 2 weeks had taken a huge toll on him. Yes, people might think that 2 weeks was nothing. But with what he found out, and all the crap that happened to him, he wanted nothing but to be with Beth and Andy. All his emotions and things he'd found out in his UC was all going down the drain.

"Is Beth okay? She's okay, right? Are you okay?" He asked, kissing her temple a million times before pulling her closer.

She nodded into his neck and kissed it lovingly. "I'm okay, and Beth's okay. We're both okay." She ended with a small sob escaping her lips. "I'm so happy you're back."

"Me too." He whispered. "I'm so happy to be back with you two." He pulled back, only slightly to get a look at her beautiful face. And finally. Finally.

Their lips met.

The softness of Andy's lips giving him a sense of wholeness and belonging, Sam's lips making her feel like she could finally live again. The whole world around them turned to nothing as they shared this, the moment they had been longing for, for too long now.

When Andy pulled away, she pushed her forehead to Sam's. "We're going to start, right? Me, you and Beth." She whispered against his lips, pecking them quickly to finish the question.

"Yeah." Sam nodded, his forehead running up and down the smooth skin of hers. "Everything's going to be okay. I promise." He kissed her forehead lovingly and wrapped his arms tighter around her. "I missed you and her so much." He whispered with closed eyes. "Is she okay? I want to go see her."

"I missed you too, we both did." She whispered back, making Sam weak at the knees. "We'll go see her."

"How's Beth?" He asked again, not being able to get his daughter off his mind. He pulled away from her and grabbed hold of her small hand. He intertwined their fingers and gripped her hand tightly, not ever wanting to let go. "I came back on the first flight I could get. What happened?"

Andy wiped her wet eyes and cleared her throat. "She's okay. Better. They wanted to keep her overnight just incase. After the phone call she just...hyperventilated. She wouldn't breathe and I..."

"She scared the crap out of me over the phone." He said with a sad chuckle. Andy yanked a little on his hand to indicate for him to follow her to Beth's room. "When the phone dropped to the ground and I heard her trying to breathe and heard her panicking and god." He shook his head, really wanting to rid of the memory. "I was so scared." He whispered.

Andy nodded along with him. "She scared me too. It was terrifying." She admitted.

She watched Sam grimace when he entered the wing. He also hated the smell and feel of hospitals. It sent a shiver up his spine and made his body feel cold.

It was all in his head.

His footsteps started to get quicker once he reached her room. The need to see his daughter breathing and smiling was actually causing him physical pain. When Andy pointed to the door to tell him it was hers, he didn't hesitate to rip it open and barge in.

And it almost made him cry when he saw her chest rise up and down, and when he saw the little part in her mouth. He blew out a sigh of relief, then made his way closer to the bed.

"Beth." He whispered, lightly shaking her shoulder. "Beth, daddy's back."

As she came to, Sam took the chance to really look at her. Even though he'd been gone for a week and 2 days, exactly, she still looked like she had grown and matured. Her hair still perfectly framed her face and her eyelashes were still long, dark and full.

She was still a tiny girl with a big brain and heart that could make him happy by just being there.

"Dad?" She whispered. Her eyelids slowly opened, giving Sam a look at those big, bright blue eyes.

He bit on the inside of his lip when he saw them, the eyes that used to remind him of Renee. The ones that used to give him memories of what their life was like with Renee.

Used to.

Now, all he saw was his perfect daughters blue eyes. And to not think about Renee when he saw them was comforting. He knew that his life with Beth and Andy was going to be fine. Perfect.

"Hey sweetheart." He whispered, tucking her bangs behind her ear and kissing her cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"Good." She said with a small nod. "I'm happy you're home. I missed you."

She sat up a little and moved over on her bed to make room for Sam. He slid in easily and waited for his little girl to settle into his side. When she was comfortable, he wrapped his strong arm around he small frame and pulled her closer.

Her head was resting on his neck, making it easy for him to kiss her forehead. "I missed you too. I'm sorry I left." He whispered. Sam felt her nod against his neck. Soon he felt wetness seeping onto his skin. "Don't cry." He nearly pleaded.

If he saw Beth cry, he'd cry. "I'm just happy you're home." She whimpered.

"So am I."

* * *

"Well, Mr. Swarek and Ms. McNally. Beth will be fine to go home in a few hours. You just need to make sure she rests and that she has nothing to worry about. We don't want another panic attack now do we?" He asked Beth. She giggled slightly and shook her head.

"No Dr. Carter." She said sweetly.

Beth had taken a huge liking to Dr. Carter. He had been her doctor will she was here, and he had treated her like a princess.

"Good. If you have any questions guys, please feel free to call the hospital and ask for me, I'll be sure to help you out." He said with a friendly smile.

Sam stood up and held his hand out. "Thanks." Dr. Carter firmly shook Sam's hand and let himself out the door.

"We finally get to go home." Beth said with a smile. "I hate this room. It smells funny." She scrunched up her nose and shook her head briefly.

"About home." Sam started, making himself comfortable on his chair. "I was thinking about moving. Remember when we talked about it earlier?" He asked Beth.

"Yeah." Beth chirped. "You said maybe St. Catherines."

"St. Catherines?" Andy asked. "Why would you move to St. Catherines?" She panicked. She looked toward Sam.

"No. We're not moving to St. Catherines." He assured. "I was just thinking that we should move houses. You know? There's a lot of memories at home."

"So where would you guys move?" Andy asked, frantically looking from Sam to Beth.

Sam could tell she was getting worried. "It's fine." He said calmly. "Just moving houses. Nowhere too far. I wouldn't leave you, okay?"

Andy nodded and relaxed back into her chair. She didn't want to seem clingy. She really didn't. But if Sam and Beth left right before they finally got to be something...

She wouldn't handle it well.

* * *

4 hours later they were walking through the doors of the Swarek household. Sam chucked his duffle on the ground and toed off his shoes. Beth and Andy freed themselves of their coats and boots. Immediately Sam and Andy walked Beth up to her room to put her to sleep. She really was exhausted.

After they were sure she was sleeping, Sam and Andy let themselves fall onto the couch, wrapped up in each other.

"We still need to talk." She said. Andy felt Sam's body tense underneath hers. "Why did it take you so long to get back? The flight wouldn't have taken that long."

Sam could hear the anger in her voice starting to come out. This was the part he dreaded. Other than making sure Beth was alright, of course.

"I lied." Sam admitted with closed eyes. "I stayed in Vancouver for a few hours to talk to the guys that I worked with, then I went straight to the airport and went to Sarah's."

"Sarah's?" Andy questioned.

"My sister's."

Andy furrowed her brow and looked at Sam. "Why would you lie about going to your sister's?"

"Cause..." Sam sighed and looked into Andy's dark, beautiful eyes. "Promise me you won't get mad." He asked, looking pleadingly into Andy's eyes. "Just try to understand."

"What?" She asked, confused.

"Sarah lives in Australia." He sighed. He saw her body stiffen. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier and that I went without telling anyone, saying that I was still in Vancouver. But I needed someone to talk to and at the time Sarah seemed like the only person that could comfort me. I didn't want to come here because I needed to let off some steam without Beth hearing about what Renee did and what I found out." He rambled.

"But you ended up telling her anyway." Andy commented.

"I did." Sam said. "I wish I could take it back. I was angry and wasn't in the right frame of mind. I did something stupid and now..."

"Now Beth hates Renee." She finished. "She told me at the hospital she hated her mom." Andy sat up quickly and put on a strong front. She faced Sam. "No child should hate their parent, no matter what bad things their parent's have done."

Sam nodded. "I know." At least she wasn't yelling at him.

"It wasn't just your fault though." Andy said. Sam furrowed his brow and gawked at her.

"Who else's fault could it be? I didn't see anyone else telling Beth that Renee cheated on us." He asked.

"I should've hung up the phone before Beth could even get to it. She was trying to grab it off me the whole time, I really should've hung up."

"It's not your fault." Sam yearned. "I'm the one who told her."

"And I'm the one that allowed it to happen." She said with a raised eyebrow. "Let's just say we were both acting like children, and we should've acted differently." She chuckled.

"Good idea." Sam nodded.

"I really didn't want to hang up the phone though." She whispered. "I mean. You finally started telling me what happened, I got caught up in the moment."

"What's done is done." Sam said with a defiant nod. "We can't take it back, now we just need to deal with it."

Andy nodded.

"I don't care that you went to Sarah's." She told him. "But I'm upset you didn't tell us, but I'm not angry. You leaving was probably a good thing. You were able to clear your head without having us as a distraction."

"You guys aren't a distraction." He said.

Andy shook her head. "No." She quickly said. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant that you were able to clear your head and deal with it without distractions." She clarified. She grabbed his hand and tangled it with hers. "Going to Australia without letting us know wasn't great. But I understand why you did it. I really do. And I'm not mad."

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. "You're not mad?" He squeezed her hand.

She squeezed it back and gave him a peck on the lips. "I'm a little bummed, but I'm not mad. You found out a lot of heartbreaking stuff and needed to get away. " She kissed him again. "Just...We can start now, right?"

"Yeah." Sam agreed. "I'm so sorry." He whispered.

"I know." She sighed. "Let's start. Okay. Clean slate. Put everything behind us?" She asked. She pulled Sam up so she could look into his eyes properly. "Beth's going to need help to get over this, and that's what we're going to do. Help her. And then we're going to start our life, because that's what you and Beth deserve. You deserve to be happy." She said. She kissed him again and rested her forehead on his.

"I can't wait." He whispered.

"I love you and Beth, you know that right?" She asked. He closed his eyes.

Sam stopped breathing for what he thought was hours. His ability to function went from 10 to 0 in a second. Was he meant to say it back?

Was he ready to say it back?

He lost his wife 9 months ago. The woman that he thought he loved died 9 months ago. His daughter got depression 9 months ago. She got out of it not that long ago, and he feels alive because of the woman right in front of him. All of his happiness was because of Andy.

He thought he was happy with Renee. He really did. He thought that she was amazing and beautiful and smart and everything great in a person. He thought she loved their daughter and did everything she could to provide for them, yet, everything else with Andy makes the things with Renee feel like nothing.

And not because Renee cheated was he feeling this way.

Even if he didn't know she cheated, he'd still feel like this. Like he loved Andy more than he loved Renee. It took him over 8 months for him to tell Renee he loved her.

He knew Renee for 15 years.

He's known Andy for 3 months.

"I love you too."

"Good." Andy whispered with a small giggle at the end. She rested her head on Sam's shoulder. "I'm so happy we can finally start."

"So am I." Sam whispered back. "So happy." He pulled her back down with him again. They both started to fall asleep, thinking of their future together.

The two surrendered to sleep with grins upon their faces.

* * *

**And there you have it. Decided maybe I'd give you guys something happier because of the depressing chapters before. The next one hopefully won't be too, too long. But as before, it all depends on my crappy internet. **

**Thank you for reading this chapter.**

**Let me know what you think!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi everyone!**

****

I'm getting the chapters out as fast as possible, I'm so sorry it hasn't been quick though. My Internet is still being a pain. But, here is the next chapter, and hopefully I'll be able to post the next one tomorrow.

**Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, and again, please let me know what you think.**

**Chapter 13.**

"You know that I don't want it to happen, Sam." Andy said with a sigh. She down casted her eyes to look at her fidgeting hands.

"Then why?" He stressed.

She stood up out of her chair and straddled his lap, looking straight into his eyes. "If I could change it, I would." She whispered. "But Pat told me that this is how it's gonna be. It's not like I'm never gonna see her again." She said lightly, running a hand through his silky hair. "I'm here almost every day."

"I just don't want her to act up again." He confessed, closing his eyes to relish the feeling of her body so close to his. "She might."

"She could. But she won't."

Sam pushed his back against the chair and groaned out loud. Andy followed him, pushing her front closer to his. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and pulled her harder against him, smothering his face in the soft skin of her neck. He placed a small kiss against her pulse and sighed.

"She's gotten better." Andy said, playing with the small hair on his neck. The other hand was smothered in the hair on the back of his head. "She's come so far, Sam. Remember what she was like?" She asked.

Sam nodded against her neck and tightened the grip around her waist. "How could I forget? My daughter was a mess." He said sleepily.

"She was. But see how much better she is now?" Andy reasoned. "She's going to be fine. I promise you." Andy pulled back and looked into his eyes, waiting for him to nod. When he finally did, Andy gave him a small grin and a peck on the lips.

"But you're going to tell her." Sam said quickly. "She'll yell at me."

"She'll yell at me too!" Andy screeched with a pout.

"She loves you more."

"You're her dad!"

"That doesn't mean anything." He muttered. "Fine. I'll say it, but you're going to be there listening to her yell with me." Sam said with raised eyebrows. His girlfriend wined at him, before finally agreeing, earning a large, dimpled smile from him. "Good."

"Ugh." Beth groaned when she walked into the kitchen. "I'm only 10!" She yelled, standing on her tippy toes to get a glass out of the overheard cupboard. She slammed the door shut and got a carton of milk from the fridge.

"10 year olds kiss their boyfriend's too." Andy laughed. Sam laughed along with her when he saw Beth's face contort with disgust. Andy swung her legs around so that she was situated just on the end of his thigh, her body facing Beth.

"No kissing boys for me." Beth said, looking them both in the eye. "They're gross."

"You keep thinking that until your 50, sweetheart." Sam grinned back, sitting up in his chair. Despite his smile, he was serious in a way.

What he learnt about relationships was that they could be a total lie. He didn't want Beth to experience it at such a young age. Like she said, she's only 10.

"50?" Beth said with a giggle. "When I'm all old and wrinkly like grandma?" She asked her dad. Sam smirked, and nodded.

"Like grandma." He repeated with a nod.

"Should we tell her now?" Andy whispered in his ear, keeping her eyes trained on Beth to make sure she couldn't see. Luckily, she was busy pouring her milk.

Sam nodded at her. "Beth." Sam said seriously, gaining her attention when she snapped her head toward the couple. '_Just tell her quickly._' Sam said to himself. '_Like ripping off a band aid._'

"You're gonna have to change schools." Sam rushed out. "The owner thinks that you've improved enough to go to a normal school now." He explained. He monitored his daughter's reaction closely.

He really didn't want her to burst into tears.

"Okay." She stammered out. Not taking her eyes of the carton of milk, she gave a quick nod and put it back in the fridge. "Where?"

Andy pinched her lips together. "Well. Your dad doesn't want you to go back to your old school for obvious reasons." She started. "So, he's going to put you in a new school closer to the new house."

Beth raised her eyebrows at Sam and Andy. "The new house? I thought we weren't moving there for another month." She said slightly alerted. Beth looked at her father with fear in her eyes. "You said we weren't going to move out until mom's one year."

"We're not." Sam reassured his daughter. He tapped Andy's leg, making her stand up. He followed her and they both walked around to Beth. He picked her up and sat her on the counter. "We aren't gonna move there until the one year. We've discussed this." Then he gave her a smirk. "And you're still on break for another month."

"I know." Beth said with a grin. Then. "I'm just scared." She professed. Beth's shoulder's slumped and she tilted her head down in attempt to cover her face. Her long, light brown locks did just the job. She felt strong fingers lightly grip her chin, pulling her face up to meet her dad's.

"Don't be scared. I'm here." Her father said to her. Beth knew it was true. He would always be there for her. Just like he had the whole 2 months that he'd been home.

Beth nodded, then looked at Andy. "Did you suggest that I move schools?"

Andy immediately shook her head. "No. I didn't. He just looked at the progress you've made and said that it would be best if you went back to school."

"I was at school." Beth fought. "Is the Learning Centre not a school?"

"It is." Sam answered for Andy. "But, back to normal classes, with other students. It'll be good for you, alright." He said. When Beth nodded he kissed her forehead lovingly and then clapped his hands together. "Who wants breakfast?"

"It's night time, dad." Beth rolled her eyes.

Andy giggled at her boyfriend's tactics.

"It is." He said lightly. "But who doesn't want pancakes at 11:30?" His eyes bugged out of his head when he realised what time it was. "Why aren't you asleep?" He asked Beth.

He watched his daughter huff, sending her bangs flying off her forehead and onto the top of her head. "I'm not tired."

"Not tired?" Andy asked with a raised eyebrow. Beth crossed her arms defensively over her chest, reminding Andy so much of Sam. She laughed at Beth before also placing a kiss on her forehead, following Sam to get the ingredients from the cupboards.

"I'm not lying!" She insisted. She quickly jumped from the counter and willed her little legs to chase Sam and Andy around the kitchen.

"You've been up since early this morning." Sam said worriedly. "You feelin' sick or something?"

"Nuh-uh." Beth said with a shake of the head. "Just not tired."

Sam eyed his daughter, raising one eyebrow and giving her a hard glare. He crossed his arms over his chest and imitated her stance. Andy thought the situation was hilarious, and wanted nothing more than to take a photo.

"You get to stay up with us tonight, but tomorrow you're back to sleep at 10:00." He said, pointing his finger at her. She let out a squeak of delight, making both Sam and Andy wince and cover their ears.

Beth barged into Sam and gave him a hug, smothering her face into his stomach. She looked up at him and grinned her killer smile. "Pancakes?"

Sam tilted his chin to the fridge. "Get the eggs and milk and we got a deal." Beth untangled herself from Sam and ran to the fridge to get out the ingredients. Andy got out the pan and bowl, while Sam got the rest of the ingredients from the cupboard.

* * *

"That was good." Andy yawned loudly. She stretched herself out on the couch and rested her head comfortably in Sam's lap.

"Mm." Beth grunted already half asleep. She really didn't do well at staying awake.

"Go to bed." Sam said, nudging her side with his elbow. Again, she grunted and snuggled further into Sam's side. He looked down and noticed that he had two girls attached to him, both in the midst of falling asleep.

He sat back comfortably and watched TV as they finally fell asleep.

Now...he had time to think.

He had time to think about how perfect his life had been for the past 2 months. It was honest to god the most amazing time of his life.

Andy had changed both of them for the better. Each and every day he loved her more than he already did. Which to him seemed almost impossible before it actually started happening.

And Beth and Andy were like 2 peas in a pod.

Everything Andy did, Beth did. Anything Beth wanted, Andy would give. They hung out together almost all the time. After school when Sam was still working, they'd go to the arcade or mini golf and chill out until he was done.

They did almost everything together, and to be honest sometimes it felt like he was dreaming. How Andy treated Beth like her daughter even though she wasn't, and had only known each other for 5 months amazed Sam.

Andy acted like a second mother to Beth.

And In a way, she was like her mother.

Not that Beth would every call Andy mom. Because she wouldn't. Everyone in the house knew that would never happen. But Sam and Andy were about to experience Beth's teenaged years.

Sam shivered.

Beth being a teenager.

She was already a little sarcastic imp now; imagine how much worse she'd be as a teenager. And she was going to go through puberty and like boys and maybe go out and break the law for all he knew.

He looked down and Beth and hoped that she wouldn't get stuck with the wrong crowd at school. He hoped that she'd find a good group of friends, and not get herself into trouble.

Sam knew he'd need help from Andy. He didn't know how to explain all the stuff that was going to happen to her body in the next few years. That was supposed to be Renee's job. If Sam was being truthful, he hardly knew anything about it either. He'd probably have to ask Andy a few questions as well.

His gaze shifted to Andy.

He wanted a future with her. No doubt. He wanted to maybe get married again, and have more kids before he got too old to run around after them. He imagined a baby nestled closely to Andy's body as she slept.

He couldn't keep the grin off his face.

He was brought out of his trance when he heard his cell phone blare from the kitchen. He cursed under his breath, and slowly got out from underneath their sleeping forms. He lay Beth's body down carefully before breaking into a jog to get to his phone.

"Swarek."

"_Hey, Sammy."_ Came a female voice.

He smiled widely. "Hey, Sarah."

_"How's my little brother?"_ She asked happily. _"Is everything good at home?"_

Sam sat down in one of the barstools at his counter and started to eat one of the left over pancakes. "Everything's great." He smiled. "Andy and Beth just fell asleep not long ago."

_"I talked to Andy the other day."_ Sarah said. _"She told me about how excited she is that she's finally gonna meet me."_ She said. The tinge of an Australian accent just breaking through her voice.

"What? How's she gonna meet you?" He asked, stopping the pancake from reaching his mouth.

_"I'm coming for a visit."_ She cheered. _"I decided that it's about time that I come visit my niece and future sister-in-law. Besides, I need to see if she passes the test."_

"No tests!" Sam groaned. He threw the half eaten pancake back to the plate, his appetite suddenly gone. "Andy's perfect and I don't need you weighing in on everything."

_"I'm not weighing in."_ Sarah sighed. "_I just want to make sure she's worthy of you. Remember what we all thought about Renee, and look what happened with her." _

Sam felt anger burning in his bones. "Don't compare Andy to Renee, ever." He said. His tone had turned serious. "They are nothing alike, and I know for a fact that Andy would never do what Renee did. If you're coming here for that reason, don't come at all."

_"I just don't want you to get hurt again."_ She said with a sigh.

Sam slipped off his seat and made his way back into the living room. He stopped just outside the doorway and watched the two girls sleep. "I'm 35. I can take care of myself, Sar."

_"I know."_ He heard her sigh again. Her behaviour made sense to him. After all he had done for her as a teenager, Sarah just wanted to give her brother everything. And overall, she wanted him to be happy.

"When are you coming?"

_"In about 2 months I'd say. It's about the only time I get more than a week off work."_

"Looking forward to it."

_"Me too, Sammy."_ Sarah said. They bid each other goodbye and hung up. Sam shoved his phone in his pocket and walked back over to the couch.

"Hey." Sam whispered into Andy's ear. He nudged her shoulder with his chin and kissed her cheek. "Wake up."

When she didn't stir, he stood back up and wrapped his arms around Beth, carrying her up the stairs to her bedroom. He pulled back the covers and was just about to lay her in bed when he felt her body jolt awake.

"Dad?" She asked.

He kissed her forehead and placed her on the bed. "Yeah sweetheart. Go back to sleep." He kneeled down next to the bed and tucked her bangs behind her ear, giving him a full view of his daughters beautiful face. "It's late."

"Sit with me?"

Beth looked at her father hopefully, and grinned when she saw him get up and slide into the bed next to her. They took up the position very similar to the one at the hospital. He stroked her back lovingly and pulled her closer.

"I think I'm okay." Beth said with a content sigh. Sam felt her warm breath on his chest.

"Why wouldn't you be okay?" He furrowed his brow and made eye contact with Beth.

"I mean. After all the stuff that's happened to us in the past. Like, mom dying and then meeting Andy, you going away and then us finding out about mom cheating. And now you and Andy are together. I think I'm okay with everything now."

She continued to look into her father's eyes and then gave him a killer smile.

"We have Andy to thank for all that I think." Sam told her.

"She saved me." Beth whispered.

"She saved us."

* * *

Andy was just walking up the stairs and down the hallway to Beth's room when she heard them talking. Not wanting to distract them, she waited just outside Beth's door.

Their conversation brought a tear to her eye, but she quickly wiped it away before it fell.

She saved them?

Honestly, they saved her.

Beth and Sam were like nothing she'd ever seen before. They were amazing. Two people shouldn't have had to go through what they did, but they did go through it, and they were strong.

Andy loved them more than anything in the world, and they saved her from loneliness. They saved her from never being able to love someone and they allowed her to have the future that she'd always wanted since she was a little girl.

She was more than happy to be in their lives.

And right now, Andy felt extremely emotional.

So she walked straight into the room and nearly dived on top of them.

"Andy!" Beth squealed with a high pitched laugh. "You're squishing me!" She whined when Andy wrapped her arms around the little girls body and squeezed her tight to her body. "I can't breathe!"

"You can so." Andy scoffed. "And I'm hugging you tight because I love you too much." Andy said simply, giving the girl a kiss on the head.

"You love her enough to suffocate her?" Sam asked with a smirk and raised eyebrow. "Why aren't I getting suffocated?"

"You don't want to be getting suffocated daddy, trust me." Beth said, pretending to choke.

"You're funny." Andy deadpanned, finally relinquishing the hold on Beth's body. She listened to Beth fake pant and clutch her chest, pretending that Andy had suffocated her. "Are you saying I'm fat?" She scoffed.

Beth laughed hysterically at the look on Andy's face. "Yes."

Andy raised an eyebrow and began to dig her fingers into Beth's sides. Beth was squealing with delight while Sam watched on.

Finally Andy gave in to Beth's pleads for her to stop. "Alright kid." Sam said, rolling off the bed. "Time for you to get some sleep."

"I'm not tired anymore." She pouted. "Andy made me wide awake."

"Good one." Sam muttered under his breath. When Andy raised an eyebrow at him, her smirked and looked back at Beth. "You'll live. Just close your eyes and you'll be asleep in no time."

"That never happens." Beth wined.

"It's late Beth. Get some sleep. We'll see you in the morning."

First, Sam bent down to give Beth a hug and a kiss, before Andy jumped off the bed to do the same.

"Night Daddy, night Andy. Love yous." Beth called from her bed when they were about to walk out.

"Love you, sweetheart." Sam called back.

"Love you." Andy whispered in a soothing manner. She closed the door quietly and then went to follow Sam, who was already halfway down the hallway to the guest room.

"You comin'?" He asked. Andy bit her lip, and finally trotted after him, and grabbed hold of his outstretched hand when he offered it.

They slept in the guestroom now. Sam didn't want her to be sleeping in the same room where he and Renee had made so many memories. He wanted to be with Andy, and only Andy when he was sleeping. If she were to sleep in the same spot that Renee used to sleep in...

It just felt really, really wrong to him.

So he suggested the guest room the first night she slept over a month ago. And almost every night after that, they stayed here.

Sam needed to make new memories. He needed to move on, and the 2 people that he wanted to do that with were in this house, right now.

Sam and Andy jumped into the bed, their fronts pushed tightly up against each other. Andy slung a leg over his legs and rested her head under his chin. Sam had both of his arms wrapped protectively around Andy.

"Do you really think I saved you?" She whispered. Her eyes were closed, and Sam knew she was about to succumb to sleep.

"You did." He insisted. "Beth and I wouldn't be here right now, if it weren't for you. You're our saviour."

Andy's eyes opened a little and she kissed his chest before looking up at him. "I love you." She whispered. Sam ducked his head down to kiss her softly, before pulling her closer to him.

"I love you, too."

**Done and done.**

**Also, after the next chapter is the epilogue. The next chapter will include the 1 year anniversary of Renee's murder, then it will be the epilogue in chapter 15.**

**Which brings me to my next question.**

**Would anyone read if there was a sequel? Like, if I decided to write more about them in the future. Them being a family and all that?**

**Thanks for reading, and please review that chapter and answer the question above. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Here it is. The second last chapter. I wrote it extra quick so then I could make up for how long you guys have had to wait for the other chapters.**

**I got quite a few people saying that they'd like a sequel, so I'm definitely thinking about writing one. **

**Alrighty. Thank you for reading, please review, and if you haven't said whether or not you're interested in a sequel, let me know if you'd want one.**

**Chapter 14.**

Beth was acting up pretty bad so far today. But...Sam and Andy were expecting it. If it'd been a year to the day you saw your own mother chopped up in freezer bags, maybe you'd snap at each and every person that came within 2 metres of you too.

And she'd been doing it since she had woken up. Sam had asked her if she wanted food, all she did was eye him, then walk upstairs and slam her door shut. Andy asked if she wanted to watch TV with her, like they did every morning. Beth walked out of the living room and marched herself to the back patio.

When Sam and Andy left her alone, she had a sook and insinuated that they hated her. Which was complete rubbish, all three of them knew that Beth was talking crap. But she wasn't in a great frame of mind today.

The two of them didn't know what to expect when they woke up this morning. They didn't know if they were going to get an angry, sad, grumpy kid, or if they were going to get a girl who wouldn't let go of her father's hand.

Sam believed they got the worse of the two.

Now, it was just before lunch and Beth had placed herself in the kitchen. She was looking through the cupboards for food. Seeing as she had bluntly refused breakfast this morning and she was starved. Andy was sitting at the kitchen counter watching her move around the kitchen. She would slam a cupboard every once in a while, then grumble something under her breath.

Andy was sort of at a loss of what to do right now. She had tried almost everything she could to make the day a little normal for Beth, but she didn't want it. Andy leaned her elbows on the counter and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. She started tapping her fingers on the table, hoping that Beth would ask her to stop and spike up conversation.

"Please, stop." Beth snapped.

Andy inwardly smiled at herself. "Okay." She said lightly. "What do you want to eat?" She slid herself off her chair and started to walk around to Beth.

"Cake." Beth said with a small giggle. "Yeah. Do we have cake?"

Andy furrowed her brows, but gave Beth a small smile. "Don't think so. I can ask your dad to bring some back."

"Where is he anyway?" Beth asked. "I didn't even know he left."

"Yeah, probably because you wouldn't pay attention to anything we were doing." Andy told her while rolling her eyes.

Beth shrugged her shoulders, then turned around to face Andy. Her bright blue eyes were glistening with unshed tears, and her shoulders were sagged and her head was bowed an inch. She had her arms dangling idly by her sides; just the tips of her fingers were touching her jean-clad thighs.

"You wanna tell me how you're feeling?" Andy asked calmly. She slowly made her way closer to Beth, then bent down to her height so they were eye to eye. Andy tucked a stray hair behind Beth's ear in a comforting manner, just like with Sam did.

Beth finally looked into Andy's eyes and talked. "I'm angry at mom." She took a large step away from Andy and crossed her arms. "I'm angry that she was stupid enough to cheat on us. And...and...even though she got herself into this mess, me and dad are still upset about it."

"It's okay to be upset, Beth. You know that."

"I shouldn't be this angry when my mom did it to herself."

"So you're going to go around like normal and act like nothing even happened?" Andy asked incredulously. "You wanna act like you didn't see your mom chopped up in bags?"

"Pretty much." Beth said back. "I'm going to act like I normally would, because me being sad isn't going to bring her back. It's not going to magically undo everything she did to me and my dad. Imagine if she was still alive and we found out about her cheating." Beth demanded. "I'd have to switch between mom's house and dad's house every weekend, because they would both want to see me. Either that or mom would just send me to live with dad anyway because she had another boyfriend."

She dragged herself from in front of the fridge and took Andy's spot at the counter.

"I think life would be harder if mom was still here."

"That doesn't mean you can't be sad, Beth."

The little girl scoffed and then let out a sad chuckle. "I was sad for more than 6 months of my life. I don't need any more of it. You finally got me out of the depression and everything's great. I don't need it weighing me down anymore."

"So you're over it?" Andy asked with raised eyebrows. She slipped her cardigan off her shoulders and placed it on the counter, revealing her beautifully tanned skin. She walked back a few steps to lean against the fridge as she waited for Beth to answer.

"I love my mom, but I'm still angry. Not as much as I did when I first found out, but I still don't love her like I used to. No matter how many times you and dad have told me that she loved me with everything she had..." She shook her head and breathed out a long, loud sigh. "I've been over being upset since I started."

"You wanna move on?" Andy asked.

"I really, really do. I mean. It's been a whole year since my mom stepped foot in this house. A whole year that I could've spent doing other things. Like trying to get better, but I always had something that reminded me of her and I just don't want to be thinking about her all the time."

Andy noticed that Beth hadn't shed a tear today. She had teary eyes, but not once had a tear slipped down those rosy cheeks of hers. Never had Beth tried to suppress her tears when she was around Andy.

So maybe she really was moving on.

"So, back to my original question. Where's my dad?"

"We're gonna go see him now."

* * *

Sam sat on a patch of well-kept, dark grass. The smell of damp soil and flowers invaded his senses at the moment. It's where he'd been for the past 30 minutes.

He had his legs spread comfortably in front of him and was leaning back on his palms just looking at the small stone in front of him.

_Renee Bethany Swarek_

_Loving Wife, Mother and Friend._

_09-22-1974 – 08-05-2012_

"Been a long year." Sam started. He scrubbed a hand roughly over his face, then continued his laid back position. "Pretty shitty one too."

He waited for a reply, but he knew he wasn't going to get one.

It'd been just under a year that he'd been here. The last time he visited Renee was at her funeral. Although he and Oliver talked over it, he still wanted Renee's remains buried. Obviously the coffin was shut at the service, and no one got to see Renee before she was buried.

He wanted to honour his wife, and have something in the world so even strangers that came by here knew that she was once on the earth. The description was made by him.

Oh how he wished that he could change it.

"Beth took it extremely hard. Worse than anyone." He had never spoken to Renee like this before. The last time he spoke to her was when she was about to leave for the conference. Never had he spoken to her dead body. "We both had it hard. Beth was depressed for a while. About 7 or 8 months to be exact."

He looked back at the gravestone and sighed.

"I took her to a Learning Centre when everything got too much for her. We met her teacher, Andrea McNally." He smiled to himself and let out a chuckle. "She's amazing. She helped Beth get over her depression in a matter of months, and she and Beth became really, really close."

"Me and Andy became pretty close too." He nodded his head. "She makes me happy. I remember when we used to say that If I got killed on the job that you and Beth would try to move on, and that if somehow something happened to you while you were working that I would too." He laughed at himself. "Never did I think that I'd actually be able to move on until I met her."

Sam looked around to make sure no one was watching him or listening to him talk to his deceased wife.

"You were amazing, Renee. My whole life I was happy while I was with you. 15 long years and I was so, freakin' happy.

Hey, remember when you told me you were pregnant? How you ran through the bullpen, dodging everyone so you could try and get to me quicker. You were squealing as soon as you told me and you jumped into my arms." He rubbed his eyes. "Then you told me that we were gonna have a baby and...my god I was the happiest guy in the world in that second." He bit his lip and continued.

"The thought of having something that was you and I put together was...unreal. My life was perfect from that moment on. I always thought it was perfect before that as well, but a baby just tied everything together." He smiled at the thought of Beth.

"When we found out it was a girl, I knew I wanted her to look exactly like you. I wanted her to be exactly like you because to me you were perfect." He rubbed his stubble and sighed again. "I was so happy when I felt her kick for the first time, and when she was born." He shook his head and laughed out loud. "That was the freakin' happiest day of my life to date. Beth was absolutely perfect."

"I was in a bliss my whole life from then. Every time I got to watch you hold Beth I thought I was in a dream. When she said 'dada' for the first time my heart literally exploded with happiness. And when she started to walk and talk properly and go to school I felt so proud." He told her with a sad chuckle.

"I was happy when I could go in to work and gloat about my family to the other guys." He laughed to himself. "Sort of makes me think about what our other kid could've been like."

He started to pick at the grass and shifted into a more comfortable position. He crossed his legs and rested his elbows on his knees. He continued to play with the piece of grass in his head before he started to talk again. "Guess it all turned to shit a bit abruptly." He rubbed at his forehead.

"Me or Beth weren't expecting you to never come home. Then I went under to find out who did it. And we found out about your fling with Brennan. It stuffed me up pretty bad." He admitted. "Didn't think you'd do it to me. I didn't think you were that type of person. But...I was wrong."

He jumped up off the ground and dusted off his butt. He walked closer to the gravestone and looked down at it. "Thank you for giving me the life I always wanted. Thank you for giving me Beth, and thank you for giving me the chance to find someone just as amazing as you were." He took a large breath, kissed his hand, then laid it on the stone for a few seconds before he turned around.

Beth and Andy were walking closely together toward him. He could already sense Beth's hesitance to be here. She hadn't been here since the funeral either. It was too hard for her, especially with the depression.

He watched the two most important people in his life walk toward him. They were both clad in Jeans and a simple tank top. Beth's hair was tied up messily with her bangs falling over her head. Andy's hair was down and natural.

They were beautiful.

"Hey dad." Beth said sadly when they were in earshot. She lazily let Andy's hand go and walked straight into her father's strong embrace. "Hi mommy." She whispered after a while. She walked up to the stone and placed a bunch of flowers that she and Andy had bought next to it. She walked back to Sam and then held his hand. They both turned to the tombstone with Beth pulled tightly to Sam's side.

Sam looked over to Andy. She was standing back a bit, obviously not wanting to disrupt the moment. Andy gave him small smile and signaled for him to turn back to Renee's grave.

Beth gnawed on her lip before she spoke again. "I'm mad at you." She told her mother. "But I still love you, and I miss you a lot." She felt Sam give her arm a tight squeeze. "I want you to meet Andy." She said.

Beth turned around and motioned for Andy to come closer. She had an internal debate with herself, before she relented and told hold of Beth's hand that wasn't already clutching her father's shirt like a vice.

"This is Andrea McNally." Beth started. Andy looked on at the grave with a tear in her eye. "She's helped me a lot since you left." She explained to her mom. "She told me that it was okay to be sad, and that you didn't want to leave. She got me to talk about you when no one else could, and she made me happy again." Beth looked up at Andy with her bright blue eyes and gorgeous dimples.

Andy honestly felt like she was about to be turned to mush. She wanted to fall to the ground and cry her heart out. This girl amazed her more every single day.

"She's daddy's new girlfriend, and someone who I'd be proud to call my step-mom one day." She let go of both Sam and Andy, giving Andy the chance to look over at Sam, who had one tear trickling down his cheek. Beth moved closer to her mothers gravestone and knelt down in front of it. "Even after what you did to me and daddy, I do still love you." She gave the stone a kiss before jumping up and grabbing hold of the two adults.

"You guys ready to go?" Sam asked. His voice sounded strangled and different. It was obvious that he was trying hard not to hold back tears.

"I think so." Beth breathed.

Andy bit her lip and told Beth and Sam that she'd meet them at the truck. When she knew they wouldn't be able to hear what she was going to say, she started talking.

"You made a mistake by doing what you did." She said. "Sam and Beth are the two most amazing people in the world, and I love them more than anything. I've only known them for 6 months, yet I'd move heaven and earth for them." She cleared her throat.

"You gave them hell when you got murdered. And even more hell when they found out that you were cheating on them. And you gave Sam even more hell than that when he found out you were pregnant with his kid.

When I first met them I knew how crushed they were about you being murdered. Beth was as anti-social as anything and Sam just wanted his daughter to be happy again.

But you had an amazing family, and an amazing daughter. And as bad as this may sound, and it is such a terrible thing to say." She let a tear roll down her cheek and she breathed out a long sigh. "Thank you for giving me Sam and Beth. Even though you probably didn't want anyone else to have them, I do now. And my life would be nothing without them. So.

Thanks."

Finally, Andy turned around and walked through the cemetery to her family.

Because that's who they were to her. Her family.

She found them sitting next to each other in the bed of the truck. Beth was leaning heavily against her fathers shoulder, while Sam had an arm loosely sitting behind her.

She walked to them slowly, not wanting to disrupt any type of moment they were having right now. When Beth turned around a large grin spread across her face.

"Dad said we can go get cake."

* * *

When they got back to the house Sam collapsed onto the couch, dragging Beth with him. She squealed and landed on his lap with a thud. Andy laughed and fell onto the couch next to them and snuggled closer to Sam's side. Beth position herself sideways on Sam's lap in a small ball. Her head rested comfortably in the crook of his neck, while Andy's head was sitting lightly on his shoulder.

Sam left the TV off to talk to his girls.

"Is everyone alright?" He asked looking at both of them. He felt them both nod against him. "You sure?" He said to Beth, nudging her head with his shoulder.

"I'm fine, daddy." She told him with a sigh.

"How do you feel about going to see mom?"

"It was good." She said simply. "I liked that we got to introduce her to Andy." Beth looked over at Andy, who was also looking over at her. "I reckon my mom would really like you, Andrea McNally." Beth said jokingly.

"Well that's good then, Bethany Swarek." She teased back. Sam smirked at the girls and nudged them both with his shoulders.

"Stop with the full names." He muttered.

"Hey!" Beth said quite loudly, making both adults jump. "Did you ever realise that we all have shorter names than our real ones?" She asked. "Like. My names Bethany but I'm called Beth, Andy's is Andrea but people call her Andy, and dad's is-''

"Don't you dare say my full name, Bethany Swarek." Sam warned.

"Your full name isn't Sam?" Andy asked, immediately perking up. "What's your real name, Samuel or Samson?" She asked, getting extremely giddy.

Beth was about to open her mouth when Sam softly placed his hand over it. "Not telling. No one knows of my full name except this one right here." He explained, tilting his head down to point at Beth. Sam immediately ripped his hand away when he felt something soft and went touch his palm. "Beth!" He scolded. "That's gross, don't lick me!"

"His names Samuel." She told Andy quickly. Beth instantly kissed Sam's cheek and gave him a smile. "She'll find out eventually." She muttered.

"Hmm...Samuel Swarek." Andy said with a grin.

"If I ever heard you calling me Samuel, you will both be in for it. Understand?" He asked the two devils. Both of them laughed, but they accepted once they realised he wasn't joking.

Sam looked at the wall clock and noticed that it was only 2:00pm.

"What are we supposed to do for the rest of the day?" He asked.

* * *

An hour later and they were settled. Sam and Andy had dragged the large king size mattress from the guest room downstairs to the living room floor. The head was pushed up against the front of the couch.

Beth had got all the junk food in their cupboard and poured the contents into large bowls.

The three of them sat down on the couch and picked a large range of movies from the ones on the stack. Beth immediately demanded 'Tangled'. Much to their dismay.

All three of them had changed into pajamas, and had got themselves comfortable for an extremely lazy night.

Now, they were all situated on the king bed. Sam was in the middle with Beth and Andy snuggled up to each side. The food was scattered across the bed in reach of everyone.

And that's how they stayed for the night.

After a while, they were all fast asleep, except for Beth. She had woken up during the night from a dream of her mother and hadn't been able to fall back asleep yet. She grabbed a small piece of paper from underneath her pillow and opened it.

There Renee was. With a huge, bright smile with long beautiful curly hair and bright blue eyes. She looked absolutely perfect.

"You're wrong." Beth whispered to the photo. "Andy saved me and dad. When you left she came and she saved us from bad things." She continued to stare at the photo, recalling what her mother said to her in her dream.

"Andy is my saviour, and I love her more than anyone will ever know." She whispered again. Slowly, she folded the piece of paper again and shoved it under her pillow.

Beth snuck her hand over her father's stomach and grabbed hold of Andy's hand that was resting there. She smiled when she felt Andy's grip on her hand tighten.

"I love you, Andy." Beth whispered.

"I love you too, Beth."

**And next is the epilogue! Yay!**

**I've almost finished my very first fanfic. Gosh I feel accomplished. Thank you again to those people who told me they'd want a sequel. And again to those of you who haven't, let me know if you do!**

**Thanks for reading this story, and let me know what you think of the chapter. Hopefully the epilogue won't be too far away. Again, depends on my internet as always.**


	15. Chapter 15 - Epilogue

**And here is the Epilogue. It's also a bit of an introduction to the character's you might see in the sequel, 'Saved'.**

**The sequel probably won't be started for a month or so. But, thank you to those who said they wanted a sequel and thanks for the reviews for the last chapter. **

**And I want to say such a huge thank you to those of you who read the story. It was my very first fanfic and I was extremely nervous about posting it. A special thank you to 'svugirl25' who was always there giving me positive feedback and had encouraged me to continue to write the story. I couldn't be more thankful! **

**Chapter 15 – Epilogue**

_2 years later..._

Andy and Beth lay on the large 'L' shaped couch situated in their living room. Beth had her head resting on Andy's stomach and was reading a novel for her school assignment. Andy had her eyes shut lightly and was wearing a small smirk on her face. She was absentmindedly running her fingers through Beth's now shoulder length hair.

The TV was off, and the whole house was silent. It was peaceful.

Andy was just about to drift off to sleep when she felt Beth shoot up and flop over onto her stomach. Andy's eyes snapped open in surprise and raised an eyebrow at Beth when she rested her folded arms on Andy's stomach. Her chin rested lightly on top and she was scouting a dimpled grin.

"What do you want?" Andy asked, knowing that grin was normally used when Beth wanted something from her or Sam.

"What makes you think I want something?" She asked innocently.

Andy scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I know that look."

Beth shrugged her shoulders, but kept her large blue eyes on Andy's warm face. "I do sort of want something." She said with a small laugh afterwards. "It's nothing bad or anything. I just wanted to ask you a question."

"Okay..." Andy dragged.

"Would it be okay if Tate came over?"

Andy widened her eyes, then chuckled. "Tate comes over all the time, Beth." Andy said. "You don't even have to ask anymore."

"No...I mean." Beth sighed then shut her eyes. "Do you think it'd be okay if he stayed over the night." Beth immediately felt Andy's body tense and her breathing stop.

The quiet room had just become 10 times quieter.

"You want Tate to stay over?" Came a loud voice from the bottom of the stairs. "Are you kidding?"

"Sam..." Andy cringed.

"You want Tate. A _boy_," Sam said the last word louder than the rest. "to come and stay in my house when I have a 12 year old daughter at home?" He laughed to himself and then his face went stoic. "You're dreaming, Bethany."

"Dad, he's 13. We're best friends. You know that." She pleaded. "His aunt and uncle are going away tomorrow and he needs somewhere to stay for the night."

"So you told him he could stay here?" He asked her. His voice sounded astonished. "Beth, you know how I feel about boys."

"I'm 12. What do you think's gonna happen?" She droned. "Dad. He's just staying for the night. We'll sleep down here and you and Andy can even sleep in the guest room down here so you can see us."

Beth rolled off the couch and dragged her feet over to her father. She stood directly in front of him and looked heavily into his eyes.

"Don't use the eyes on me, Bethany." He told her sternly. "Or the dimples." He rushed before she could even attempt to use her smile.

"Please?" She breathed.

Sam looked over at Andy, who was biting her lip and playing with her nails. He was having a huge internal debate with himself. Tate was a good boy. He really was. He was the first and only friend Beth had gotten once she moved schools from the Learning Centre.

When Sam first found out Beth's best friend was a boy, he was very...

He didn't even know what he was. But he felt the need to protect her, and scare him.

After a while though, Sam and Tate came to the agreement that if Tate ever made Beth upset, or if he ever hurt her intentionally, that Tate would never be allowed near her again.

After they agreed on that he felt a lot more comfortable having her around him. That's also when Sam became like a father figure to Tate. Seeing as his dad was in prison at the time they met.

The guy was still in prison now. Probably would be for a very, very long time.

He stared back into his daughter's eyes and groaned. "Let me talk to Andy first, then I'll get back to you." Sam grabbed his daughter's head lightly and gave her a light kiss on the forehead.

He could tell she really wanted to try and convince him to say yes, but he saw her restraint. "Fine." She huffed.

When Sam could see that she was almost all the way upstairs, he walked toward Andy on the couch and pulled her flush against his front. He pecked her lips quickly and then rested his forehead against hers.

He felt warm when she wrapped her arms securely around his waist and pressed her face into his neck. "Well?" She murmured. The hotness of her breath sent a tingling sensation down his pine. He rubbed his hand up and down her back.

"Tell me." He whispered. "I don't know what to do. I mean...they're young." He told her. "They're at that age where they're starting to change and I mean...you can see how much Beth's changed, right?" Sam asked her.

Andy nodded against his neck, then pulled back to look at his face. "She's changed a lot since Renee."

"And that Tate kid isn't ugly." Sam murmured. "It kind of makes me wish he was."

Andy grumbled and then huffed. "You know your daughters maturity level. You know what she's like. She isn't even into boys yet." She told him reassuringly.

"She will be soon. She's turning 13 in a few weeks." Sam said. "And Tate's already 13. I bet he's getting to that age..."

"Sam." Andy sighed. "You need to trust her." She stood on her toes and gave his cheek a hard kiss.

"So you think I should let him stay over?" He asked her.

"It's up to you."

* * *

Sam pushed a shopping cart down the long aisle at the super market. He yanked a few items of the shelves and threw them in the cart. Beth would stop ever few seconds to throw something that no doubt was full of sugar, into the cart as well.

Each time she did it Sam rolled his eyes and grabbed the item back out of the cart and threw it back on the shelf.

"Tate and I need something good to eat, dad." Beth grumbled.

"Good? You mean 'healthy good' or 'potential diabetes good'?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Beth turned around and gave her father a sarcastic smirk, before turning back around and walking down the aisle.

She had honestly grown so much in 2 years. She was a lot taller than she was when she was 10. She had finally had a growth spurt, but she was still short for her age. Her hair was now cut to shoulder length. She had gotten rid of her bangs and now her light, wavy hair just fell elegantly across her shoulders.

Luckily, she wasn't into the make-up thing. She didn't seem to have a lot of interest in all that stuff yet, and Sam was hoping she never did.

Her style of clothing hadn't changed either. She still liked her sneakers, jeans and long shirts with coats. She went for comfort always.

And another change in Beth that he had noticed in 2 years?

She was happy. All the time. She would smile every second of the day. She would always talk to them about anything and everything. She had energy.

All the time.

She was back to the old Beth he once knew. And it made him happier than almost anything in the world.

"Can I get some junk food?" He heard Beth whine. Sam shook his head to rid of his trance and eyed Beth. She was standing closer to him now with a dimple grin planted on her face.

"Only a few bags." He told her. "I don't need 2 crazy teenagers running around the house."

"Only one of us is a teenager, dad." She huffed.

"You will be soon." He mumbled. "Quickly go and grab some." He watched Beth sprint down the aisle and turn to her right. He could still hear the sound of her converses hitting the floor as she ran.

So yeah...he agreed to Tate staying over.

After a while though. It could've been a few minutes.

Or maybe (definitely) 4 hours.

Sam turned around and saw Andy walking gracefully down the aisle. He broke out into a full smile when he saw the sparkle of the beautiful ring on her left hand.

_Flashback_

_He was extremely nervous today. Like...almost fainting._

_He and Andy had been together for almost 2 years and he was extremely happy. Beth had also voiced her opinion about Andy to him on numerous occasions. When he finally told her that he was doing it, she squealed and hugged him like she never had before. She was almost as happy as he was._

_An hour ago he was sure she would say yes. He was sure she was going to burst into tears and nod at him and fall into his arms and sob._

_Now...he wasn't so sure._

_Now he was starting to get extremely nervous about it all. What if she didn't want to get married yet? They'd been together for 2 years, that was long enough...right? He doubted himself terribly, to the point where he nearly vomited out the contents of his near empty stomach._

_He had the small velvet box in the pocket of his leather jacket, just tempting him to take it out, yank the ring out of the box and super glue it to her finger so she didn't have a choice but to say 'yes'._

_He sat next to Beth in their living room. His knee was bouncing incessantly and he was grinding his teeth harshly. Something he did when he was incredibly nervous. Andy was about to come home, and he was almost peeing himself. _

_This was close to the most nerve-wracking moment in his life._

_His movements halted when he heard movement coming from the porch. His eyes shot over to Beth, who was giving him a small smile and a nod of reassurance. _

_When he heard the door swing open and got to his feet and turned to the doorway._

_The look on Andy's face when she came into the room brought her to tears. _

_There stood Sam, he had a small box opened in his hands with the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. Beth was standing a few steps back, but she was close enough to watch the encounter._

_"Andy..."_

_"Sam." She breathed, putting a hand over her heart. _

_"I love you. I love you so much that life without you just isn't an option for me anymore." He moved even closer to Andy and intertwined his fingers with the fingers on her left hand. He stroked her knuckles and continued._

_"You helped Beth and I through the hardest part of our lives. When we thought nothing could make our lives normal again, we found you. There was an immediate attraction, but I was still hurting. But I had feelings for you right from the start. I know you were going to be a huge part of our lives as soon as I left that office on Beth's first day."_

_By now, Andy already had tears trickling down her cheeks._

_"You saved us." He told her. "You picked us up and you changed us in so many ways. Good ways." Sam reassured. "We love you. You're beautiful, and smart, and honest, and we need you in our lives forever." _

_He let go of her hand and got down on one knee and presented the ring. "I, need you forever." _

_End Flashback_

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Andy asked shyly. She bit her bottom lip and gave him a dazzling smile. "It makes me feel weird..."

"Not my fault you're absolutely beautiful." He smirked. Sam yanked her toward him and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Guys, we're in public." Beth droned. She smacked her father on the back of the head and threw her junk in the cart. Sam eyed the food and gawked.

"Beth!" He growled. "You're gonna make yourselves sick. Go and put some back."

"Dad..." She cried.

"Beth." Andy said pointedly. She directed her finger at the food and then threw her thumb over her shoulder. "Listen to your dad."

"Fine." She huffed. Sarcastically she smiled at Sam and Andy, then scrambled up her food and stalked back down the aisle.

Sam huffed and turned back to Andy. "She never listens to me."

"Teenagers." She laughed from behind them. Andy peeked over Sam's shoulder and saw an elderly woman with a walker. She was small and hunched over. She sported a long white dress and a light green cardigan. She had white hair and large glasses. "She is absolutely beautiful though, you have a lovely family, young man." She winked at Sam.

"That I do." He agreed with a smile. "I'm Sam, and this is my fiancé, Andy."

"Fiancé?" She asked them, rather surprised. "I thought with a teenager that you would already be married by now, dear."

"Oh." Andy squeaked. "No, Beth's not my daughter. Well, not legally." She told her. "She's going to be my step-daughter."

"Could've fooled me." The elderly woman whispered with a wink. "Have a good day."

Andy kept her eyes on the woman until she made it to the end of the aisle and moved out of her sight.

* * *

"Sam, Beth, Tate, food's ready!" Andy yelled from the kitchen.

"You cooked?" Sam yelled back.

They all heard Andy laugh hysterically before she contained herself. "No. I put pizza on a plate."

She heard the patter of feet on the floorboards before they entered the kitchen. The first one that came in was Tate. Her soon to be step-daughters best friend.

To Andy, he was absolutely gorgeous; he had shaggy, bright blonde hair and dark eyes. He wore large glasses that sort of reminded her of Ray Bans with seeing lenses. He was a little taller than Beth was, and a lot more muscular. He played a lot of sport.

After Tate walked in, Beth followed, then Sam who was watching the two children like a hawk. He was honestly the most over protective man in the world.

He was especially protective over Andy and Beth. But Andy couldn't blame him. He'd been through a lot.

After they ate, Sam and Andy went and sat on the porch swing in the back yard. It was a beautiful night, warm with just a tinge of a cool breeze. The sun was just about set and the only sound that could be heard was birds.

They liked to come out here and relax. They had ever since Andy moved in with them.

Permanently, that is. She had stayed with them almost every night when they moved into the house. A few months later she officially moved in. That's when they brought the rest of the furniture and they completed their perfect household.

Beth's reaction to Andy moving in was great. She handled it well and she seemed truly happy to have Andy living in their home.

Sam and Beth were both happy to have Andy living in their home.

Andy smothered herself against Sam's side and breathed heavily. "You think Beth and Tate are gonna get married one day?" She asked amusedly.

"Beth isn't getting married. She's my little girl." He told her.

"She's growing up, Sam. She's becoming a teenager. She's basically a teenager." Andy told him. "She's gonna start liking boys a lot sooner than you think."

"And those boys are gonna have me to deal with." He spat back. "I don't want anyone touching her, yet." He drawled. "When she's older I might let her have a boyfriend."

"Might?" Andy laughed. "She's going to." She promised. "Beth is definitely going to have boys hanging around her. Haven't you seen how beautiful she is?"

"Of course she's beautiful." He chuckled whilst pulling her closer. "She get's it from her father."

"Who's her father?" Andy snorted. Sam playfully smacked Andy on the butt and laughed sarcastically.

"You're a shark." He muttered against her head. Andy's giggle was like music to his ears.

Andy closed her eyes. "I can't believe I only met you guys almost 3 years ago." She whispered. "It feels like I've known you forever."

Sam nodded, but spoke no words.

"Can you tell me if you're truly happy?" Andy asked. "I need to know."

Sam froze, but quickly pulled her up into a sitting position. He held her hands firmly in his, tracing the ring on her finger lightly. "I am." He told her while looking deep into her eyes. "I am so happy that I'm with you. If I was with Renee when I met you, I think I'd have still chosen you. I love you with everything that I am, and I will always love you no matter what. In a few months, we'll be a proper family. Legally. Then we're going to have our own children, and they'll be beautiful just like Beth. And I'm going to love you, Beth and my future children with all my heart, because I'm so grateful that I have them. I'm grateful that I have you." He tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"Nothing could make me happier than having you and Beth." Andy told Sam.

"You saved us." He whispered. "And you're still saving me, every single day just by being here."

"I'll always be here." She whispered.

"Promise?" Sam asked.

"Promise." She nodded.

**And there's the official ending of Saviour. As I said before, thank you all so much for reading and giving me the support and encouragement I always needed. **

**I introduced Tate in this epilogue so you all know that he's going to be in the sequel for sure. He's Beth's only friend, so I wanted him to be introduced now.**

**Thank you all so, so much again!**

**Look out for the sequel, 'Saved', in the coming month.**

**Let me know what you think of the story as a whole, and what your wishes are to see in the sequel.**


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